Chitra Varga

Rudy Giuliani, the New York governor, once quipped: “ It is about time law enforcement got as organized as organized crime” . Indeed, a little bit of order in the rank and file; and, loads of greed and some fear… that is all it takes for organized crime to succeed. “ ಚೂರಿಕಟ್ಟೆ ” (‘ Choorikatte ’) is a 2018 Kannada film about sandalwood smugglers; it garnered critical approval and approbation. Commercially too, the flick had a decent run. Set in Churikatte, a tiny hamlet in the wilderness of densely forested hills, this crime thriller is about an unlawful sandalwood logging racket run by the local thug, Prakash Shetty (Sharath Lohitashwa), and his trusted henchmen, Seena (Balaji Manohar) and Mohana (Pramod Shetty). Despite the diligent efforts of Inspector Ravikanth (Achyuth Kumar), the illegal red sanders trade flourishes, courtesy: the nexus between the smugglers and the local forest officer, Suresh (Manjunath Hegde). High on machismo and silvery quick on repartee, Adi (Praveen Tej), ...

What Ayn Rand, the Russian-American author, wrote in her best-selling novel, ‘ The Fountainhead ’, is often paraphrased into a clarion call for women’s liberation as: “ The question isn’t who’s going to let me; it’s who’s going to stop me .” The moot point of the debate on gender justice though is that often women hesitate to raise their voices against the patronizing male. “ ಕಿರಗೂರಿನ ಗಯ್ಯಾಳಿಗಳು ” (‘ Kiragoorina Gayyaligalu ’, which translates to: ‘ Vixens of Kiragooru ’) is a 2016 Kannada film  based on a  novel  of the same name penned by  Poornachandra Tejaswi. The social drama was critically applauded for its refreshingly distinct portrayal of women as not just strong, but also fierce about standing up for each other. The plot is set in the hamlet of Kiragooru, wherein its agrarian community lives in harmony, the odd brawl or bicker among the residents notwithstanding. The village has some feisty, bellicose ladies too. Then, there is shrewd, selfish Heggade (Sh...