Vaalee - 2001 DVD $14.99

Vaalee Kannada

Starring: Sudeep, Poonam, Sadhu Kokila
Director: S. Mahendar
Producer: Ramesh Yadav
Music Dir: Rajesh Ramanathan
Lyricist: K. Kalyan
Singers: Anuradha Sriram, Gurukiran, Hariharan, Unnikrishnan, Sudeep, Ganga, Rajesh
Distributor: Sri Ganesh
Genre: Romance, Drama, Thriller

Synopsis

“Valee” is a love story, set in Bangalore. Shiva (Sudeep), who is 25 years old, sees Priya (Poonam), and is instantly attracted to her. They are both attending a Personality Development Course, and he sometimes also sees her in the street. However, Vicky (Sadhu Kokila), whom we first met as a beggar, claiming to have lost a leg in a plane crash in 1991, and now claiming to be a salesman, sees him looking at her, and tells him that a friend of his proposed to her and she lectured him for an hour – she is not the sort of girl to whom one can go and say, “I love you”. So Shiva comes to meet her in the Library, and says he wants to talk to her. They go to the park, where she accuses him of wanting to tell her that he loves her, because he is always looking at her and smiling at her. He says that was not his intention. Into this conversation, by pre-arrangement, comes Vicky. Vicky greets Shiva as a long-lost friend, and asks him about his romance with Sona – only to be told by Shiva that Sona had left him, and he is very unhappy, and that he still loves her. He says he had made so many sacrifices for her, but she left him. This gains the sympathy of Priya, who phones him late one night, and says she would like to see Sona. Shiva says that is impossible, but Priya says she only wants to see a photograph of Sona. Vicky goes to a Photo Developing Shop, and steals a photo of a girl, which he gives to Shiva to show to Sona. Priya is delighted to se the photo, and asks him all about the way he met Sona. Then Priya goes for a visit to Mumbai, where her friend is getting married. She phones her father from Mumbai to tell him that she has fallen in love. When she comes back she meets Shiva – and at all their meetings, Priya wants to know more and more about Shiva’s romance with Sona, so Shiva has to make up all sorts of imaginary stories about the things he and Sona were supposed to have done together. He has an extremely good imagination! Priya is enthralled!
Then disaster strikes. Vicky phones Shiva to tell him that he met Priya in a lift. Another girl got on the lift, the girl in the photo that Vicky stole for Shiva, whom Shiva said was Sona. Priya then finds out her name is not Sona, but Meena, and, of course, she knows nothing about Shiva. Priya is understandingly extremely angry with Shiva, who asks her for forgiveness, but she tells him that she does not want anything more to do with him: however, later she comes to his house, and sees him in the garden, and hugs and kisses him – all is forgiven. They decide to get married.

That is the love story. However, at the beginning of the film we see that Shiva does not live alone. He has a twin brother, Deva, who is older than him by five minutes. Other members of the family are Grandma, and Sheila who studies in a college 55 kms away. Because it is too far to travel every day, they live in rented accommodation near the college, and only come home at weekends, to the family house, where Shiva and Deva live.

What is unique about Deva is that he’s deaf and dumb, but he has run an advertising company for five years, very successfully, so successfully that he has won a prestigious award. He chews Chiclets (chewing gum) to cover up for not being able to talk, and nods his head. He is good at lip-reading, so he can understand what is said to him. He is also a brilliant typist. He is described as “very adamant, whatever he likes, he does not let that go”. Deva goes to Mumbai, at the same time as Priya. There he sees Priya, clicks a photo of her, and goes, with a colleague to a PI to find her, saying he wants to use her as the model for his advertising company: but in reality, he has fallen deeply in love with her. The PI is unable to find Priya, but of course she does not live in Mumbai. Then Priya comes to the house, and Deva sees her in the garden, hugging and kissing Shiva. Shiva and Priya want to get married right away, but Deva wants to postpone it, and says he wants a grand wedding in three months. However, they get married in a registry office, with the prospect of a grand wedding later.
Deva does his utmost to keep them apart, lusting after Priya for himself, injuring his arm so that they can’t consummate their wedding, and sending Shiva away to an Advertising Conference in Malaysia. Priya tries to tell Shiva what is happening, but Shiva will not hear a word against his brother, whom he worships. Then it becomes a deadly battle by Deva to get Priya for himself. It seems that he will stop at nothing to achieve this end....

Songs
1. Vasantha Masadalli - in the month of April at midnight, she stole my heart
2. O Sona O Sona
3. Ee Chandrama Tampige
4. Batirana Hidido Bateras Madu

Released Year: 2001
Running Time: 158 minutes/Colour/Kannada

Review

This film is very different from the usual. It is a film with a main cast of four, Sudeep, Sudeep, Poonam and Sadhu Kokila! Sudeep has a double role, as twin brothers. In the role of Shiva, we see the kind, genial, sensitive and loveable character he so often plays. In the role of Deva, he is deaf and dumb, but manages to conceal this from many people – and he is a brilliant business-man. All is well with the family, until Deva falls in love with a girl he sees on a visit to Mumbai. We see his obsessive nature when he finds that his brother Shiva and the girl, Priya are in love. As his brother said about him, “whatever he likes, he does not let that go”. The rest of the film is about the lengths the devious Dvea goes to to keep Shiva and Priya apart, and to have her for himself.

“Vasantha Masadalli” is a love-song with Shiva and Priya, starting “In the month of April at midnight, she stole my heart…”. “O Sona O Sona” is a song sung by Shiva to an enthralled Priya, in which he tells her his (imaginary) love story with Sona. “Ee Chandrama Tampige” is a love song with Deva and Priya. “Batirana Hidido Bateras Madu” is a love song with Shiva and Priya, after she has complained to him about Deva’s behaviour.

As I said, this film is different. Do watch it.

4 stars

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