Habba Kannada

Starring: Vishnuvardhan, Ambarish, Devaraj, Jayaprada, Urvashi
Director: D. Rajendra Babu
Producer: Jayasri Devi
Music Dir: Hamsalekha
Lyricist: Hamsalekha
Singers: Nanditha, K.S. Chitra, S.P. Balasubramaniam, Ramesh Chandra
Distributor: Sri Nakoda
Genre: Family, Romance, Drama

Synopsis

“Haaba” (Fiesta in English) is about a joint family, all living together happily, and in harmony. There are five brothers, the wives of the three who are married, and six children. One of the unmarried brothers, Shashi, is out on roller-skates one day, when a jeep speeds by, apparently out of control because of brake failure. At the wheel is a girl calling for help. Shashi chases the jeep on his roller-skates, catches up, and grabs the girl from the driver’s seat, rescuing her before the jeep crashes. He falls in love with her.
When he comes back home, he tells the family. The girl is Savitri, from a neighbouring village, Somanahalli. But Shashi says the girl is only a farmer’s daughter, and he does not want to risk splitting his happy family, by marrying a girl from a background so much poorer than the wives of his three elder brothers. However, the family says that will not be a problem, and next day the oldest brother (Vishnuvardhan) and his wife (Jayaprada) set off, accompanied by the other unmarried brother, Ramu, to seek an alliance with Savitri’s family.
They return home, and everyone wants to know what happened, and whether they approved the girl. They come in, totally silent, and the viewer is left wondering what went wrong. Then the oldest brother sits down with a guitar, and sings a song in praise of Savitri. The wedding is arranged, and Ramu is to take a wedding video for the family. He sees a beautiful girl, a close friend of Savitri, the bride. The girl is Seetha, and Ramu falls in love with her at first sight, and she with him. However, one of the wedding guests is overheard saying that Seetha is destined never to marry. It seems that she has four brothers who are demons, and who will never allow her to marry, the reason being that when their father died, he left a will saying that, when Seetha got married, all his property would go to Seetha’s child.
When the family return home, and sit down to watch the wedding video, they are dismayed to see that nearly all the video footage shows close-ups of Seetha, and there are virtually no shots of anyone else! They learn of Ramu’s and Seetha’s love for each other, and of how and why she had told him to forget her. The family decide that they will try to conquer Seetha’s brothers with love. They set off for Somanahalli, leaving Savitri at home to look after the six children. They find that all the servants of Seetha’s family have left, as the four brothers are impossible to work for. So Ramu and his family come to work as servants. The other member of that household is their kind grandmother. The rest of the film is about their attempts to conquer the four demon brothers by love. Watch the film to see if they are successful.

Songs:
1. Jaynina Goodu
2. Yaala Yaale
3. Channappa Channagowda
4. Theem Thakita
5. Mama Mama Masthi
6. Habba Habba

Released Year: 2000
Running Time: 135 minutes/Colour/Kannada

Review

This film shows the secrets of how to live happily as a “joint family”, where all the brothers live together with the wives of the three who are married, and the six children. In the film, we do not know the names of all of the family, nor which children belong to which of the three married couples. They are presented as a happy family unit, all living for each other. The first song, “Jaynina Goodu” both tells the secret of their success, and celebrates it. How different that is from modern times, where many families are divided by strife.
In contrast we see the family of Seetha, where her brothers are demons who will not let her marry, because if she does, her children will inherit the property they are now enjoying. “Yaala Yaale” is the song sung by the oldest brother in praise of Savitri. “Channappa Channagowda” is the happy wedding song, and you’ll find out what the other songs are about when you watch the film. Both lyrics and music are by Hamsalekha, so of course both are good. The songs are a continuation of the story, sung by the people in the story, and in the locations of the story.

3 stars

Rating: [3 of 5 Stars!]