Drama - 2012 DD 5.1 DVD $14.99

Drama Kannada

Starring: Yash, Radhika Pandit, Ambareesh (Cameo), Sampath Raj, Satish Ninasam, Radhika Pandit,
Sindhu Lokanath, Bindusaara, T.S. Lohithashwa, Malavika Avinash, Suchendra Prasad, Achyuth Kumar,
Honnavalli Krishna, Atul Kulkarni, Umesh, Rockline Venkatesh, Sudhakar, Hamsa Prathap, Kalyani
Director: Yogaraj Bhat
Producer: Jayanna, Bhogendra
Music Dir: V. Harikrishna
Lyricist: Yogaraj Bhat
Singers: Vijay Prakash, Sonu Nigam, Tippu, V. Harikrishna, Sunitha Gopraju
Distributor: Sri Ganesh Video
Genre: Drama, Comedy, Romance, Thriller

Synopsis

There are three characters central to this tale. The first is Bulbul (Ambareesh), translated in the subtitles as “Toy Player”. He is in fact a soothsayer or fortune teller, who uses toys in his art. He has a spinning carousel of hanging dolls. As he spins it, he asks the person wanting his fortune told to catch one of the dolls, and uses that to tell the person’s future. He has the air of authority, as if he has magical powers, as if he knows that his prophecies will come true, He appears several times in the film, as if he is overseeing the fulfilment of his prophecies. The other two characters are a Mangalore-based don (Lohithaswa T.S.), who used to be based in Dubai, and was a guru to D’Souza (Sampath Raj), a Don now based in Dubai. D’Souza had arranged for the murder of the son of Mangalore-based don, who had been sent to Dubai to learn under his tutelage, because he had his eye on Nandini (Radhika Pandit), D’Souza’s daughter. D’Souza, of course denies it, saying that the death was a result of an accident, but he admits the truth to Nandini. The Mangalore-based don plans to murder Nandini in revenge. Nandini blames her father for the death of her mother many years earlier, and live in her mother’s village in Karnataka. Her father has his goons keep a watch on her, for her safety. The story of the film is of our two heroes, and their romances, and how their lives are influenced by the three characters, central to the tale.
The heroes of the film, which starts in a village in Mandya, are two problem youngsters, Venkatesha (Yash), who had failed his pre-degree course six times; and Sathish (Satish Neenasam), who had failed his pre-degree course seven times, and had just passed at the eighth attempt. They both flirt with the girls, and Satish has just got into trouble for flirting with Shantakka, a married woman.
They consult Bulbul. He tells Satish that he will never succeed in life, but that things may change if a girl comes into his life: but he will suffer a lot.
Bulbul tells Yash that death will follow him: a girl will come into his life, and take him with her - she will have his life in her hand. He has to run from death, and to overcome his fear.
One day, the boys of the village, including our two heroes, are playing Kabbadi, in a field, when Nandini and some of her friends stop and ask if they can play. At one stage, Nandini and Yash are trying to win, when Nandini kisses him on the cheek, he falls back in amazement, and she wins. Bulbul watches the scene.
Nandini invites Yash to come to Shalivahanna College in Mysore, where she is studying. He and Satish to decide to enrol there for further studies. Yash has, of course, fallen in love with Nandini, and on their arrival they stop at a shop just outside the college entrance, where Satish falls in love with Chandrika (Sindhu Lokanath), the beautiful but mute daughter of the shop-keeper. They meet Shalivahanna (Shalivahanna), the strict, but crazy Principal of the College, whose craziness is a result of the fact that his wife, Gayatri (Malavika) left him many years ago, when she was pregnant with their child. He yearns for her, and for his child, who must now be grown up.
The romance of Yash and Nandini continues, with her daring him to get up to all sorts of crazy pranks, one of which leads to him being suspected of murder. Will the predictions of Bulbul for Yash and Satish come true? What of the threat by the Mangalore-based don to have Nandini killed? What will happen when D’Souza finds out about Yash’s romance with his daughter? The rest of this film builds into a most unusual and interesting climax, and is well worth watching, even if it is difficult to follow the first time you watch it.

Songs:
1. Bombe Adsonu - Fragment
2. Thundh Kaikla Sahavasa
3. Chendutiya Pakkadali
4. Bombe Adsonu
5. Drama Hitavachana

Released Year: 2012
Running Time: 148 minutes/Colour/Kannada

Review

This is a strange tale, which I found a little difficult to follow first time around, but that made complete sense the second time I watched it, and it was well worth re-watching. It is a film with a plot and several sub-plots that all blend together in the climax of the film, which leave you with a feel-good factor, a feeling of satisfaction, that you have watched a good film, a film that upholds Indian Cultural Values. In the synopsis, I have tried to tell half the story, enough so that you can follow the story. The film is well acted by the main characters in the story, as well as by the entire supporting cast.
The songs are good, the picturisation, lyrics and music. “Bombe Adsonu” introduces us to Bulbul and his magic. “Thundh Kaikla Sahavasa” is a picture of village life, and the pranks that Yash and Satish get up to, and the reactions of the rest of the village. “Chendutiya Pakkadali” is a very tender love song sung by Yash to Nandini. “Bombe Adsonu” is a longer version of Bulbul’s song, and “Drama Hitavachana” is a comic love-song in a beach setting.
There’s just one thing I noticed the movie-makers got wrong, and that was Nandini’s hairstyle, which varies considerably, in length, and in style. in continuous sequences – sometimes she has a fringe, sometimes she hasn’t. It does not in any way spoil the film, and this beautiful girl (Radhika Pandit) is a superb actress.

4 stars

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