Ulidavaru Kandanthe - A comment

This is not exactly a review. I do not want to get into rating someone’s child. Yeah that’s right, from the moment I walked out, I just felt so happy for Rakshith Shetty(hope that spelling is right). He would’ve definitely protected this idea deep in his heart like a mother would keep her baby in her womb. He would endure all dejection, pain, failures, desperation and a sense of hopelessness before coming out with a movie like this.

                                 

The fact is that we’ve some real bad movies out there which had made us lose our interest in the KFI/Sandalwood. Some of them are still adamant on insulting our intelligence and throwing third rate stories at us. And it has taken some men of great courage and resolve to give birth to a new wave. First it was Lucia with its sheer brilliance on the face of extreme financial challenges. Then there was a lull, followed by Ugramm, which was original with fresh treatment. Two movies that made the nation go     ga ga over them. Yet they went unnoticed amongst ourselves. Some of us, even now, prefer watching chicken shit(oops) thrown at us by the khans (yes I hate all of them!! Apart from Irrfan Khan though).

Ok sorry that was a little bit of a personal rant. One of my closest friends watched Dhoom 3 twice and watched Lucia on dvd and said it was the shittiest movie ever that he saw. I have been looking for a new close friend since then (Ok I was kidding there :D, and yeah.. I will end the personal rant now).

So getting back to Rakshith Shetty and his labor pains (pun intended). We will unfortunately never get to know the struggle, the tears, and the pain behind the entire effort. But all I can do is applaud the same with tears in my eyes and urge people to go and watch the movie in theaters. And I will give you some reasons too. Be WARNED, spoilers ahead. And spoilers mean some of the main plot might be revealed.

Before that credit must be given to Suni, the director of SIMPLEAAG OND LOVE STORY, which in itself was a path breaking movie too. The decision to produce this movie will make your name immortal in the history of Kannada films. A huge shout out to him, because, every scene shows that the creator has not compromised even a bit on his creative vision. That shows the immense faith that you had put on Mr Shetty.  Hope you rake in a Box office jackpot and make amazing movies.

I am a movie buff to a very amateurish extent, but good enough to worship directors like Quentin Tarantino and I could instantaneously connect to the movie from the very beginning. And from then on, it was “UK”thon. I had goosebumps, a lump in my throat, a smile on my face, a tear in my eye and so on.

Right from the build up to the beginning title and credits till the very end, what Mr Shetty has managed to do is create a grand canvas which he fills with some colors never seen before, thanks to the cinematographer Karm Chawla. Having an amazing cinematographer has been one of the best moves (using an Arri camera could be the icing on the cake), but it is the music that takes this to an entirely different level, thanks to Ajaneesh Loknath. So, the very combination of a brilliant script (Mr Shetty), amazing cinematography and a haunting background score ensured that my boyish enthusiasm was catered to.  When the title eventually emerged (which by the way has an amazing font), I could only manage to shout out till my throat went hoarse. I am pretty sure, Mr Shetty will have tears in his eyes every time he sees the title.

Ok, let’s get a move on now. The movie has different chapters and sub plots. Such a narrative is unusual in the Indian film industry. Treat each subplot like a mini movie and you will definitely fall in love with it.

Mr Shetty pays homage to some of the greatest movies ever created E.g: Sin City, the usage of CGI(Computer Generated Imagery) to create the background while depicting the fishing scene and the heist scene. This, sir is an absolute masterstroke.

What else can go wrong when you have an awesome script, an amazing cinematographer and a brilliant music director? Not much right? Wait, how about the actors??

Rakshith Shetty has got the cast spot on. Right from the little boy who plays Richie Jr till Richie Sr played by himself, the casting has been perfect. While Tara ma’am made an entire chapter her own and made me cry with nothing but a simple stare at the clock, the sheer pleasure of watching Achyuth Kumar sir(the best actor in the industry right now) in pili vesha with an amazing background score (kaakig banna kaantha) got me my ticket’s worth. Talk about managing a casting coup there. But it is the other performances that actually surprise you. Democracy! Yes! That little firecracker steals hearts with a brilliant performance and his rapport with Kishore who shines again. Rishab Shetty, post Lucia comes up with a good performance as Raghu. Shankar Poojary is natural as Dinesh, Richie’s best friend.  Sheetal Shetty as the journalist makes sure we have the right questions in our mind with her performance as the investigative journalist.

The best scene of the movie according to me is when a usually nonchalant Richie remembers the “Betrayal” with a puff with wet eyes.

And how can I forget “Mandva matthu Cuban hudugana kathe”, a masterstroke bringing Scarface and Agneepath together. That is one helluva tribute to pay.

 I really do not know why I started writing this. I have completely lost track now.

BoDa sheera!

Ok Mr Shetty, (if this so called post ever reaches you) it is time for you to get that Tuxedo dry cleaned. This one is going to take you places. Thanks to you and the entire team for a wonderful movie. Looking forward to more from you. Kannada cinema is finally growing up and people like you, Pawan Kumar, B M Giriraj are showing the way and making us proud.

P.S: Please try to buy the critics out. Either they do not understand films or they really want you to pay up for the publicity. 3 stars for UK and Lucia?? You gotta be kidding me.