Kempe Gowda

Starring: Sudeep, Ragini Dwivedi, Ravishankar, Girish Karnad, Ashok Kheny, Tara, Ashok, Sharan, Anchal Sabarwal
Director: Sudeep
Producer: Shankare Gowda
Music Dir: Arjun Janya
Lyricist: V. Nagendra Prasad
Singers: Sudeep, Shamitha Malnad, Vijay Prakash, Shreya Ghoshal, Shankar Mahadevan, Naresh Iyer,
Lakshmi Manmohan, Ravishankar
Distributor: Aananda
Genre: Action

Synopsis

Kempe Gowda (Sudeep) is an honest sub-inspector in a dusty village of Rona in Hubli, his native village, where he is adored. He is fearless in chasing and arresting criminals, taking on a whole gang single-handed. But he tries to make people settle amicably disputes, when they come to complain about each other to the Police. He wants to put an end to enmity. He has a secret ambition, to reopen his father?s grocery store, as Mahalaxmi Grocery Store. Sharan provides frequent comedy scenes as PC Pashupathi.
Kavya (Ragini Dwivedi) arrives home from Bangalore, with her sister, Divya, their father (Girish Karnad) and mother (Tara), to see the grandparents. They are met at the airport by Tirupathi. That night, there is a commotion in the village ? a tiger has been seen. Kempe Gowda discovers that it is someone wearing a tiger outfit, and slaps that person. It turns out to be Kavya, who had donned the costume to scare her friend. He gives her a row, and says that she could have easily been killed. She forgives him, and falls in love with him She goes to complain to him that she has lost a chain, then a mobile phone ? just to see him again.
Armugam (Ravi Shankar), a notorious criminal, comes to a man who has just returned from America, a man originally from Mysore, who has returned to build a house in their motherland for his children. Armugam demands money from him, and threatens to have him disgraced. He commits suicide, leaving a note saying why.
Kavya goes to the cinema with her sister and her grand-parents, but some goons harass her, and hit her grand-father. When Kempe Gowda hears of this, he finds the men responsible and thrashes them.
The son of the man who committed suicide complains to the police, who have to write an FIR and arrest Armurgam.
Kavya comes to Kempe Gowda to report that a thief had snatched her handbag: he doesn?t believe this, and asks Pashupathi to phone her mobile number. It is answered by Tirupathi who pretends to be an answering machine, and sings a line of the well known song, ?Jintha tha chitak chitak jintha thatha? from the Telugu film, ?Vikramarkudu?. They recognise his voice, and go to challenge him. He tells them that Kavya gave it to him and asked him to keep it for her. Kempe Gowda confronts Kavya, who confesses her love for him.
Armurgam is released on bail, but is ordered to report daily to Rona Police Station, pending his trial. He sends his henchmen to sign on his behalf, but Kempe Gowda insists that he comes himself. He comes, and threatens Kempe Gowda, but all the men of the village are there, armed with sticks, to support Kempe Gowda.
Kavya?s father has a row with a man who turns out to be Kempe Gowda?s father, whom he tells that cops are useless and dishonest. Kempe Gowda gets a promotion to Bangalore (to where Kavya has returned, with her family) as Inspector. The promotion was arranged by Armurgam, so that he could harass Kempe Gowda, which he does.
Will Kempe Gowda survive all these harassments, and the opposition of Kavya?s father, and the kidnap of Divya, Kavya?s young sister? Watch the film to find out.

Songs:
1. Sri Rama Jaia Rama
2. Geleyane
3. Tara Tara
4. Shankara
5. Hale Radio

Released Year: 2011
Running Time: 142 minutes/Colour/Kannada

Review

This film is a remake of the Tamil film ?Singam?, which was also remade in Telugu as ?Yammudu? and in Hindi as ?Singham?. I?ve seen the Telugu and Hindi versions, but not the Tamil original. Each one is slightly different, but they all tell the same story, the story of the fearless sub-inspector, adored in his home village, because of the way he handles crime and the criminals ? who has to face big challenges when he takes on the biggest rowdy of the area, and has to deal with corrupt Superior officers, and at the same time, fall in love! Sudeep is marvellous in this role on Kempe Gowda ? he is just right as the action hero, and as the man in love. He is such a versatile actor, getting every character he plays just right. Sharan, as usual in films, is just right in his many comedy interludes as a bungling Police Constable. Ragini Dwivedi is just right as Kavya, the girl who falls in love with the hero, and she shows the strength of character which she would need if she were to marry him ? but I haven?t revealed the ending in the synopsis! The actors playing Kavya?s family are all good. And Ravi Shankar is a very convincing villain.

The songs are lovely, the two love-songs in particular, and after all the crazy antics of Sharan as PC Pashupathi, then the last song ?Hale Radio? just completes the comedy. And I did like that comedy touch, the line of the Telugu song, which kept recurring in the film for which it was written, and sometimes pops up in other Telugu movies!

5 stars

Rating: [5 of 5 Stars!]