A JIG AND HUSTLE TO OWN A HOME

They say a home is where love, hope and dreams start. Of course, those sentiments are amplified when the home is self-owned. That in turn is predicated on the purchase of a home.

“ಯಾರಿಗೂ ಹೇಳ್ಬೇಡಿ” (‘Yarigoo Helbedi’, which means: ‘Do Not Tell Anyone’) is a 1994 Kannada comedy, which has been accorded ‘cult’ status over the years. Set in the 1990s, the film has the middle-class aspiration of home ownership for its core plot. The movie was a mediocre success commercially; it did gain critical approval though. It has since been remade in Tulu.

Champa (Vanitha Vasu), the only daughter and heiress apparent of a rich man (Shivaram), works in a travel agency. Govinda (Anant Nag), a glib-slick operator, woos Champa; he wants to wed her also. But, Champa’s father insists that he’ll consent only if the suitor, asking for her hand, owns a residential plot.

So Govinda hatches an ingenious plot to cheat gullible folks of their money by deceptively promising to get residential sites allotted in their favour. The first one that he defrauds is Sarojamma (Vinaya Prasad), wife of Ramaraya (Lokesh). Soon, he casts the net to ensnare other women and swindle them.

With the proceeds so obtained through his dishonesty and chicanery, Govinda gets a beautiful house built on his own plot. So, does the conman get brought to book in the climax eventually?

That is the rest of the story.

Kodlu Ramakrishna, the director and scriptwriter, has pulled off a neat job. His casting choices are IMPECCABLE. Equipped with Geetha Rao’s interesting story, he has spoofed the prevailing socio-economic circumstances of that day and age.

Yet, in his screenplay, Ramakrishna has succumbed to the lure of the usual, unwanted trope of a cheesy song-and-dance sequence. Rajan-Nagendra’s music is top-of-the-line, as always. S Ramachandra’s cinematography and Suresh Urs’ editorial work enhance the comedic effect.

Anant Nag, the male protagonist, has given an UNFORGETTABLE performance. Very few actors can match the immaculate timing in his dialogue delivery, which is always so natural, so effortless. Little wonder then that his legacy as an actor par excellence is worthy of emulation. Vanita Vasu, Vinaya Prasad, Tara, Girija Lokesh, Vaishali Kasaravalli, Doddanna, Mukhyamantri Chandru, Satyabhama, Kunigal Nagabhushan and others have all enhanced the situational humour handsomely in the flick. Ramakrishna has made an appearance in cameo.

The film reminds us that aspiration, and not radicalism, is the opiate of the middle-class! And, ‘home-buying’ is the most rhapsodic of them all…for, as has been pointed out, ‘home is not a place; it is a feeling!’

I rate this comedy: 7.5 on 10!