Janumada Jodi - 1996 DVD $14.99

Starring: Shivarajkumar, Shilpa, Amulya, Karibasavaiah, Ashok, Enagi Balappa, Mandya Ramesh, Pavitra Lokesh
Director: T.S. Nagabharan
Producer: Parvathamma Rajkumar
Music Dir: V. Manohar
Lyricist:
Singers: Dr. Rajkumar, Manjula Gururaj, Shivaraj Kumar, Sangeetha Katti, Janumada Jodi, L.N. Shastri
Distributor: Sri Vaishnavi Combines
Genre: Romance, Drama

Synopsis

He?s the good guy ? Krishna (Shivarajkumar). She?s (Shilpa) from Chandrapur. Sangari Gowda is the bad huy, and Thangappa is his side-kick. A bull-cart runs amok at the fair. Krishna chases and stops it. He goes on a ride, and is put in a seat beside a girl. Their eyes meet ? they have fallen in love at first sight. Then follows Song 1 - ?Ivan Yaara Maganu? (?Whose son is he? Whose daughter is she?), against the background of dancers at the fair. They are waiting for Heere Gowda to pull the cart with the Goddess Mahalaxmi, but because he hadn?t come, they are going to get Rammana, a local Justice to pull the cart instead. But Sangari Gowda, Heere?s son thinks he should pull it ? and in revenge gets someone to remove the retaining stick which prevents the wheel coming off the axle. Krishna is pulling the cart when he discovers what has happened, and he holds the wheel on, till another stick is found, thus preventing a tragedy which would have resulted if the wheel had come off, as the cart would have toppled and could have crushed many women and children.
Krishna is on his bullock cart, on his way home, when he sees the girl and her friend. He offers them a lift home, which they gladly accept. Her friend is called Mani, but she won?t tell Krishna her name. He sings Song 2 - ?Mani Mani Mani Mani?, the name of her friend. She says her name is joined with a flower: giving birth on the earth, it reaches to the sky. ?Ambar? he says, ?That means Kanakambar? so her name is Kanaka. Krishna goes to the temple, where the priest (Enagi Balappa) sings a devotional Song 3 - ?Dehandinale Oh Mansa?
Kanaka?s mother has died, and she has a step-mother who treats her very badly, and makes her do all the work. She wants Kanaka to marry her brother, a useless drunk, much older than Kanaka.
Krishna finds out that Sangari Gowda had got Thangappa to get men to remove the stick from the axle of the cart, but had not paid them. He insists that Sangari Gowda pays them, then he makes them put the money in the temple donation-box, so they don?t profit from their crime.
Then we meet a girl (we never actually find out her name, or at least not in the subtitles) who wants to marry Krishna, saying that their parents had arranged their marriage when they were children. She sings Song 4 - ?Seere Seere Yallello?. But Krisna rejects her, he loves Kakini.
There are a lot more twists in the plot, like Sangari Gowda trying to have Krishna killed in a boat race. Will they ever unite? Watch the film to find out.


Songs:

1. Ivan Yaara Maganu
2. Mani Mani Mani Mani
3. Dehandinale Oh Mansa
4. Seere Seere Yallello
5. Kol Mande Jagnuma
6. Janumada Jodi Neenu
7. Januma Jodi Aadaru
8. Aart Annamange Aarti
9. O Urrad Devare

Released Year: 1996
Running Time: 151 minutes/Colour/Kannada

Review

The story of this film is adapted from the Gujarati novel ?Malela Jiva? by Pannalal Patel. It can be summed up in one sentence ? Lovelorn village boy and girl try to cross all barriers of caste and tradition to unite.

There are things in Indian Culture that are misunderstood and disliked by people who are not Indian. One of these is the ?Caste System?. Article 15 of the Indian Constitution, as enacted in 1950, prohibits any discrimination based on caste. And this film is the story of two young people who are in love, and who belong to different castes ? and it tells all the efforts of everyone to stop them marrying. When the film was released in 1996, it was well received both by critics and the public, and it set the record of being the biggest hit movie in Kannada. It is a film with lots of twists in the tale. Can the two young people find happiness against all odds?

The songs are good, the lyrics and music. Unlike a lot of films, they are a musical continuation of the story, with sung rather than spoken dialogue, with three exceptions. Song 4 - ?Seere Seere Yallello? is a love song sung by another girl who is in love with Krishna, and with whom their parents had arranged a marriage when they were children. Song 6 - ?Janumada Jodi Neenu? is a love song sung by Krishna and Kanaka. In song 7 ? ?Januma Jodi Aadaru?, Krishna laments over the difficulties they are having, and reminisces of happy times spent together.

This is a heart-wrenching story, and one that will make a lasting impression, which will remain long after you have watched it.

5 stars

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