QUALITY OF LIFE AS IMPORTANT AS LIFE

Good governance is about achieving economic growth without sacrificing social justice. The two though are often at loggerheads with each other.  So, the need of the hour in an egalitarian establishment is a benevolent system that works; and, politicians who stand up for the displaced; the deprived; and, the downtrodden.

“ಭೂಮಿ ಗೀತ” (‘Bhoomi Geetha’― it means: ‘Song of the Earth’) is a 1997 Kannada film. The award-winning movie, set in the post-independence decade of 1950s, has sustainability and balanced development for its concept. It was critically well-received too.

Shankar (Atul Kulkarni) is an authoritarian bureaucrat, who believes in rapid economic and industrial development of the nation. Entrusted with the task of completing an irrigation project, Shankar is in a hurry to evacuate residents of a nearby tribal hamlet, which is likely to get inundated once the barrage is built. Rangayya (Lokesh), a public works contractor too is eager to have the lands acquired quickly and tribals rehabilitated.

The tribals though lead a sustainable life; their minimalistic lifestyle is harmonious with nature. The villagers’ firm belief is that they have a divine, hereditary connect with the land they inhabit; hence, they refuse to abandon the sacred lands. Shankar’s loving, warmhearted wife, Sumathi (Vinaya Prasad), has a soft corner though for the village folk. 

An over-zealous, impatient Shankar conspires with Rangayya to entrap Jogi (Umesh), a young tribal and the designated successor to the position of headman of the hamlet, with a deviously ingenious ruse for rehabilitating the tribals. 

Do they prevail over the naïve, vulnerable villagers?

Or, does congenial Sumathi, who shares cordial relations with the tribals, manage to scuttle Shankar’s plan?

That sets the stage for a gripping tale, which director Kesari Haravu has leveraged to the hilt in his narration. The romance between two tribals in the script is distracting; it unnecessarily drags the pace of the screenplay. The dialogues though are deeply philosophical at some places.

Music of Ilaiyaraaja is masterful.  The cinematography is beautiful; several sequences are shot on locate in lush, evergreen forests. On technical merit, it is fine too.

Atul Kulkarni DOMINATES in his big screen debut as a strict, stiff-necked bureaucrat. Vinaya Prasad is excellent as the sensitive, submissive homemaker; she exhilarates with a soft, satiny rendition. Lokesh also dazzles in his portrayal of an avaricious contractor. The rest of the cast, which includes Umesh, Manju Bhashini, Raghunath and others, is good too.

I rate this social drama, an ecology-themed flick: 8.0 on 10!