Chitra Varga

Victor Hugo wrote in Les Mis é rables “There is always more misery among the lower classes than there is humanity in the higher.” Poignant words! The  multiple-award-winning Kannada movie, " ತಲ್ಲಣ " ( Thalla ṇ a , which translates to: “ Distraught ”) attempts to give a ' ring-side view' of the miseries the poor, the powerless and the under-privileged fringe endures. It showcases the systemic abuse, apathy, deceit and humiliation meted out to this stratum of society. On a different note, the flick also examines the functioning of human relationships within a community– amorphous and informal equations often trump where formal and crystallized definitions fail . The film features the travails of Jaya, a domestic help, whose young daughter, Sushma goes missing. Jaya practically runs pillar-to-post and moves heaven-and-earth in her search with little help from the police authorities, callous and negligent as often. Sadananda, the good Samaritan in whose house...