Douglas DB
Wednesday 13 February, 2013
Joke Falls
Starring: Ramesh Aravind, Deepaali, Neethu, Dattanna, Sharan, Sudha Belawadi, Dileep, Sihikahi Chandru, Nagashekhar
Director: Ashok Patil
Producer: Atlanta Nagendra, Ashok Patil
Music Dir: Mano Murthy
Lyricist: Nagathihalli Chandrashekhar, K. Kalyan
Singers: Kavitha Krishnamurthy, Chethan, Nanditha, Rajesh Krishnan, Ram Prasad, Shyam Vijay
Distributor: Manoranjan
Genre: Comedy, Farce
Synopsis
Anant Patil (Ramesh Aravind), a professor of Botany, is studying plants, staying at a tourist centre at the ?Jog Falls?, a tourist attraction near Sagara, Karnataka. The falls are created by the Sharavathi River falling from a height of 253 m (830 ft). The story revolves around embarrassing and comical situations created by Anant Patil, who for one reason or another (always good) has to tell lies.
The caretaker wants to visit his grandson, who is ill. He has applied for leave, but has had no reply. Anant Patil tells him to go, as he is the only person staying at the centre and says that he will look after things in the caretaker?s absence. No sooner has the caretaker left than a bus load of female students, with their fat teacher, who has difficulty getting through the door of the bus with her big suitcase, arrive for a booked stay, but they have come a day early. He poses as the caretaker, and they call him Mali (gardener or servant). One of the students, Sulekha (Neethu) is desperate to meet the Botany Professor, because they are all studying botany from his book. So he tells her that the Professor has gone away to see his grandson. She tells him that she thought the Professor was young, but he tells her that the Professor is old, and has lost nearly all his teeth. He then tells her about himself, as Mali ? that he has had more two wives, and twelve children! However, she discovers the truth, and falls in love with him. When the students all leave, she leaves a note for him with her address in Mysore, where he also lives. He wants his friend (who lives in Bangalore), Prashant (Sharan) to come to the wedding, but Prashant says he is too busy with work, but invites Anant to come to Bangalore with his wife for their honeymoon. Vasudha, Prashant?s wife?s charming sister is delighted to hear that Prashant knows Anant, as she and her friends also study from his textbook. Sulekha adores her brother-in-law, Raghavendra Joshi (Dattanna), a famous lawyer in Bangalore, who had recently spoken for a whole hour on TV in Pure Kannada, without speaking a word of English. He had come to Bangalore penniless, but he is now very rich. He adores dogs.
We now see Raghav and his wife, Sumi. They have a problem. His wife tells him that their ?driver? has suddenly gone on leave, and they need a replacement. He chides her for not speaking Pure Kannada, and using the English word ?driver?. Then his friend, Kulkarni phones him to tell him that he is going to be appointed as a High Court Judge: Kulkarni warns him that he must not have any problems in his life, or with his family, or he will not be appointed. He phones Sulekha?s brother to tell him, and Sulekha?s brother tells him about the impending wedding. But Raghav is displeased. He says a college master is of inferior status to him, and that he will not attend the wedding.
Anant and Sulekha meet Sukumar, an English Professor, and long-time friend of Anant.
A month after the wedding, Sulekha?s brother tells them that they have been invited to stay with him in Bangalore, but the invitation is in terms which are very insulting to Anant, which annoys Anant, who would like to teach Raghav a lesson. Also Raghav needs a driver, who will speak in Pure Kannada. So Anant says he will go and pose as a driver, and Sulekha can go on her own, and they can both meet and spend time with each other.
Anant arrives, as the driver. He complains when Raghav uses English words, and says that Kannadigas should only speak pure Kannada. He calls himself Priyatama. Raghav also knows Prashant, and gets Priyatama to go to collect a parcel that Prashant has for him.
Kamala is a girl who lives with Raghav and Sumi, who took the responsibility of her upbringing after her parents died, and Raghav now wants to marry her to Priyatama, because he thinks Sulekha is getting too friendly with Priyatama. Kamala has fallen in love with Priyatama, and this causes jealousy between Sulekha and Kamala. Eventually Sulekha and Priyatama ?elope? together, and they get Sukumar, an English Professor, and friend of Pryatama (aka Anant), and also of Prashant, to pose as Anant with Raghav and Sumi. Suku and Vasudha fall in love, but as Anant is married, this causes complications. There are also two sub-plots going on during all this. Firstly, Anant has invented a medicine for hair growth on bald men, but is not sure if it will work; he is being chased by a representative from a Medical company who wants to buy the formula. Secondly, he is being chased by three rowdies, one of whom is black, and is named ?White?, and the other two are named ?I Don?t Know? and ?I Forgot?. They are chasing him because of the anger of John Puttaparthi, another rowdy whose wife, Vasudha, left him when he went bald. But it?s not the same Vasudha as Prashant?s sister-in-law.
After this the story gets complicated!
Songs:
1. Gandhavathi
2. Modala Modala
3. Nanna Beladingalu Neenu
4. O Prema Tangaliye
5. Naguvina Loka Idhu
Released Year: 2005
Running Time: 152 minutes/Colour/Kannada
Review
?Joke Falls? is based on the 1975 Hindi film ?Chupke Chupke?. One critic, reviewing ?Joke Falls?, writes ?Oh! What a movie that was?? and described it as a ?hilarious extravaganza?. That sums it up beautifully. This is one of the funniest films I have ever seen, and certainly the funniest Kannada film I have seen so far. The details of the plot do not do justice to the humour that continues throughout the film, the comical scenes with characters pretending to be somebody else, resulting in endless complications. And it starts off with the Professor pretending to be the caretaker, in order to let the caretaker visit his sick grandson. The comedy between Priyatama/aka Anant and Raghav is hilarious when Priyatama chides Raghav for using English words, and then points out some of the anomalies in pronunciation and spelling, in English.
Ramesh Aravind (Profeesor Anant Patil) is excellent as the main comedy character. He has a marvellous sense of timing and he is so convincing with the lies he has to tell, one after the other. Dattanna (Raghavendra Joshi) plays a character, who is funny because he such a serious-minded person, that he is rather ridiculous. However, every character in the film has a comedy role to play, not only all the principal characters, but the fat teacher, the rowdies, Raghav?s wife and Kamala, and Prashant?s family ? everyone is excellent. Have I left anyone out? Oh yes, I haven?t mentioned the Music Director, Lyricists and Playback Singers. The songs are really jolly. I think my favourite is?Modala Modala?. Well done, everybody, Director, Cast and Crew!
It is a film that you will want to watch again and again ? I have watched it several times.
5 stars
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