Chitra Varga

Some say that we are born not to change destiny, but to fulfill it . Fatalistic opinion, for sure! On the flip side, man often builds grand castles in the air about the future. But, destiny invariably disrupts the plans; blindsides bizarrely and has the last laugh. “ ಗಾಳಿ ಗೋಪುರ ” (‘ Gaali Gopura ’― it translates literally to ‘ Wind Tower ’, but means ‘ Castle in Air ’) is a 1962 Kannada film, based on a story penned by the well-known Tamil writer, MS Solamalai. The bilingual drama, a blockbuster, was later released in Telugu ( Gaali Medalu ). The movie was remade in Hindi ( Bharosa ) and Malayalam ( Kalanjukittiya Thankam ). Ranganna (KS Ashwath) is a rich man who suffers from tuberculosis. Believing to be on his death bed, Ranganna hands over a large sum on money and entrusts his young son, Krishna (Rajkumar) to Govindaiah (R Nagendra Rao). Avaricious Govindaiah pounces on the opportunity to make a quick buck though; he packs up discreetly and relocates to a new town. His wife Sha...

The great theoretical physicist, Albert Einstein observed insightfully, ‘ only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. ’ Indeed when the ego comes into play, human associations begin to strain; more so in marital relationships. “ ನಾ ಮೆಚ್ಚಿದ ಹುಡುಗ ” (“ Naa Mecchida Huduga” , which translates loosely to “(The) Boy  I Adored” ) is a 1972  Kannada film that was a great commercial success. Based on PS Vaidyanathan’s story titled “ Divorce in Indian Style ”, the romantic drama was remade in Tamil as “ Kattila Thottila ”. Bhaskar Rao (Ashwath) is an advocate married happily to Dr. Leelavathi (Leelavathi). The duo has a daughter, Pramila a.k.a. Pammi (Kalpana), who is in a romantic relationship with Gopinath (Srinath). Unaware of their daughter’s love, the two parents agitate over the choice of a suitable bridegroom for Pramila. Unable to settle their dispute amicably, they even reach the brink of divorce. That is when a clo...

The American actor, Willem Dafoe is quoted as saying that great theatre is about “ challenging how we think and encouraging us to fantasize about a world we aspire to. ” The ancient Sanskrit playwri ght, Śūdraka surely had some such aspirational ideal in mind– perhaps of the proletariat overthrowing despotic rulers and oppressive regimes– while penning his rivetingly absorbing pl ay, Mṛcchakaṭika. Some academics though believe Śūdraka just finished Bh ā sa's incomplete, fragmented drama, Vasantasensa . " ವಸಂತಸೇನ " (' Vasantasena' ), is a 1941 Kannada movie , a timeless, priceless classic based on Śūdraka's literary masterwork . S et in the ancient c ity of  Ujjayini   in the fifth century BCE d uring the reign of King Pālaka , the plot features the male protagonist, Cārudatta (Subbaiah Naidu), a young, penurious  man. An affluent courtesan, Vasantasenā (Lakshmi Bai) sweeps Cārudatta off his feet during a chance run-in. The attraction is reciprocal. ...

“ In time of test, family is best ”, so a Burmese proverb goes. It is the “family", or rather, “extended family” that provides the backdrop for the awards-sweeping 1968 Kannada flick, " ಹಣ್ಣೆಲೆ ಚಿಗುರಿದಾಗ " ( Hannele Chiguridaga , which translates to: “ When (an) old leaf springs forth ”). The movie, a ' cult classic ', deals with widow marriage and women emancipation– both themes are socially relevant even today. And boy, what a feast of a feature film, it is! In short, the experience was: “ethereal”, nay, “sublimely ethereal”! The black-and-white film, released in 1968, is based on a novel penned by Triveni– the pseudonym of Anasuya Shankar, a prolific writer who authored about twenty novels in her short life of just 35 years– and impeccably scripted by RN Jayagopal, both veritable doyens of the Kannada literary landscape. An orthodox patriarch gets agitated about one of his sons' romance with a threatre actress. He disapproves too of his w...