THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE SPIES

“Spying,” as the Russian President Vladimir Putin said somewhat stalely, “has always gone on since ancient times.” There is something about ‘spying’ and its not-so-distant cousin, ‘voyeurism’ that gives an adrenalin rush to the common man. Perhaps the spooky secrecy that shrouds espionage― besides its association with death and danger― is irresistibly charming. The onscreen portrayal of suave, sophisticated spies too adds to the romanticism of intelligence work.

“ಕುಳ್ಳ ಏಜೆಂಟ್ ೦೦೦” (“Kulla Agent 000”, which literally means, ‘Short Agent 000’) is a 1972 Kannada film, which is part spy parody and part spy thriller. The commercially successful movie― an escapade in the Austin Powers’ mold on comical content sans the innuendos― found favour in pop culture too.

Kulla (Dwarakish), a puny, pocket-sized bloke aspires to be a secret service agent. He tries to make up for his lack of height by showing up for a recruitment interview wearing stilts under his long trousers. The comical incident ends in a rejection. But then, thanks to a quirk of fate, he busts a smuggling ring. Consequent to the heroics, the intelligence agency inducts him as an undercover operative.

Kulla sets out on a secret mission for busting a gang of smugglers, headed by Mr. Big (Udaykumar). So, he teams up with another agent, Jyothi (Jyothi Lakshmi), but, only after earning his spurs in a one-on-one, no-holds-barred bout with the Amazonian lady, who is a hardcore, hard-nosed street-fighter.

So Kulla and Jyothi disguise themselves as dancing robots; they get delivered to the evil villain, Mr. Big’s (Udaykumar) den in boxes. Their cover though gets blown and a full-fledged fight follows with the flunkies.

How does the spy-duo nab the satanic boss of the baddies?

That is the movie.

KSL Swamy (Lalitha Ravi, also Ravi) has directed this spoof, an out-and-out entertainer, with songs ‘n stunts; fights ‘n fisticuffs; chases ‘n cabarets…and, action of that ilk aplenty. He has added a fair share of slapstick sequences too, besides some mordant humor in the dialogues.

The sonorous twang of the guitar dominates the music directors, Rajan-Nagendra’s upbeat, catchy score; the megahit songs are all composed to Chi Udaya Shankar’s lyrics. The legendary Kishore Kumar has lent his voice to the ‘aadu-aata-aadu’ track. The camerawork of Prakash is replete with unexpected views and unorthodox angles.  

Dwarfish, diminutive Dwarakish has put in a performance that commixes Peter Sellers’ bungling, bumbling Inspector Clouseau with Sean Connery’s urbane, unctuous James Bond― more of the former than the latter. Jyothi Lakshmi titillates and tantalizes as a toughie in her role that is high on brute physicality and raw sensuality. Tight-fitting outfits only enhance her glam factor. Vajramuni, Udaykumar, R Sampath, Shakti Prasad, et al have supported well.

I rate this spy spoof/thriller: 7.5 on 10!