Kantara? Can!!

(an edited version of this review appeared in Tabla! 21-Oct-22 Page 12; screen grab at the end of the post)

 Kantara - The Legend - Kannada - 2022

One must say that Sandalwood, hitherto considered as the poor cousin of Kolly- and Tollywood has grown up. Over the last few years some notable movies such as U-Turn, RangiTaranga, Ulidavaru Kandanthe, and well, the KGFs (yeah...) have caught the pan-Indian (!) imagination.

So, when the wife’s Bengaluru college WhatsApp group went gaga over Kantara, we decided to check that out too. No better way to gain some brownie points, you say? Absolutely!

Kantara was, as they say in Hindi, paisa vasool!

What do you get when you grind mythology, crime, folklore, indigenous sport, caste exploitation and environment sustainability together?

You get, Kantara - The Mythical Forest.

Oh, I forgot a few other key ingredients: fantastic locales, unobtrusive yet hard-hitting cinematography, distinct & original music, and a fantastic climax picturisation.

Beneath all the veneer, Kantara is a revenge thriller. Villagers in a remote corner off Dakshina Karnataka (think pristine forests near Mangaluru) live a carefree life bound by their traditions and associated superstitions. They live off the forests surrounding them in a sustainable way. However, they are troubled by two elements – one in the form of a Deputy Range Forest Officer (DRFO) (played by a strict Kishore) who wants to establish the rules of the government and the other in the form of high-caste land usurpers (a syrupy Achyuth Kumar). Hero Shiva (Rishab Shetty) stands in between the baddies and a peaceful existence of the villagers. Throw in the villagers’ belief in the local demigod Panjurli (a boar-shapedVaraha incarnation) and how Panjurli will save them from all troubles, you get a heady concoction of a movie which ends with a predictable yet spectacular finale.

Three things stood out in Kantara.

Rishab scores 3-in-1

Rishab Shetty has poured his heart and soul into the movie. To have given something from the Sandalwood cinemas to fight the gargantuan PS-1 is a wonderful achievement. But this is not a token fight. The way Rishab has scripted the story as a fabulous interweave of mythology, current day politics and social exploitation, revenge, and rural sports augurs well for Kannada cinema.

Yes, the lines were quite raw – the only beings that don’t cuss in the movie are the buffaloes; the love-angle was contrived; the DRFO’s character swings like a yo-yo; you can predict the flow of incidents easily; But those are not deterrents, as one was able to sit and enjoy the 135 minutes of Kantara without checking the phone! Success, indeed!

In front of the camera, Rishab brings the right amount of nativity in his portrayal of a happy-go-lucky youth, who is ready to pick up fights and is troubled by visions of his priest-father vanishing when he was young. He ably treads the line between naivete and indifference – especially in the caste discrimination scenes. 

Hero-centric movies thrive on making the ‘transformation’ scene of the hero memorable (Remember the ultimate Baasha, the exotic Viswaroopam/Salangai Oli, the 'therikka vidalaama' Vedalam et al.? Okay, fans of other heroes can open the can of worms!) Here Shiva’s transformation in the end was expected all right, but the depiction was top class and therefore will be talked about for some time. 

Colourful Music

Ajaneesh Loknath has scored a fantastic mix of traditional (Kundapura folklore), classic (Varaha Roopam; video below) and breath-taking background music during the last 20 minutes heightening the excitement with an excellent mix of modern and conventional.

Ajaneesh’s discography of about 25 films is not that huge. But if he continues to produce such seminal work, we will hear more about this young man.

Mesmeric Cinematography

I thought that Girish Gangadharan’s cinematography in the Malayalam movie Jallikkattu is a tough act to follow. But Arvind Kashyap has truly excelled himself here.

Firstly, capturing the entire essence of Bhoota Kola (Festival of Spirits), an annual celebration of local demigods in Dakshin Karnataka; then providing an immersive experience of the Kambala Buffalo race, an annual rural sporting event where intrepid men race a pair of buffaloes in a slushy, water-filled field (check the video below on the making!); and rounding up with the resounding climax where a chaotic skirmish between hundreds of people ends in that primal dance-cum-punishment by the hero.

Whether it was the lighting – mostly natural, or the movements through the forests, or the colours – vivid and yet gloomy reflecting the mood of the film, Arvind was to the fore!

In all, Kantara was an enjoyable watch made poignant by the focus that it brought on almost-forgotten traditions and culture, man’s avarice, and exploitation of the poor through a masala pot-boiler.

Kantara?  Can!!

#sriGINthoughts #reviews #Kannada

PS-1: Not a postscript

PS-1: Not a postscript

(an edited version of this review appeared in Tabla! 14-Oct-22 Page 8; screen grab at the end of the post)

Four of us watched PS-1 last weekend.

My mom, who got more up to-date through the incessant promotion on social media; a Telugu-speaking friend, who was curious about all the hullabaloos; wifey who came with a blank mind ready to absorb what is thrown at her; and finally, myself – a two-time PS reader with a decent idea of what to expect and of course extremely curious on how the book has been adapted to screen.

At the end of the movie, the reactions were:

Mom: Nice. They have worked hard and well.

Friend: PS-1 means ‘Pothumda Sami – 1’ roughly translated to ‘Enough dude – 1’

Wife: I liked it; but Baahubali was catchier. The movie ran in a jerky fashion.

And then yours-truly: I loved the movie. 

As usual, here is listicle of five thoughts:

How could a movie look so understatedly grand?

The comparison is inevitable. With Baahubali still fresh in people’s minds, PS-1 will be a let-down for people who were looking for CGI-produced huge palaces, mountains, waterfalls, weird animals etc. PS-1 scores so beautifully by focusing on giving the right amount the grandeur that is necessary for the scene, and it looked so real – which they were. #AuthenticArtPS

How could the female characters look so gorgeous?

The female leads Kundavai (Trisha), Nandini (Aishwarya Rai), Poonguzhali (Aishwarya Lakshmi), Vanathi (Sobhita Dhulipala) – each of them looked like million bucks with those fabulous hairdos, real gold/diamond jewellery, pleasing costumes… #SplendidSartorialPS

How could the dialogues be so insipid?

While the faithful-to-the-book screenplay worked for me despite its jumpy nature, the lines were… sorry Mani and Jeyamohan. Didn’t work. Movies are a visual medium. But to move the story, one needs dialogues that are strong and sharp. Unfortunately, Mani Ratnam resorted to his staccato style of dialogues; it worked partly as it did in the scene where Vanthiyathevan (Karthi) meets Kundavai. But to colloquialize the dialogues in the name of making the frontbenchers understand? Sigh! #DepletedDialoguePS

How could so many stars be assembled under one roof and yet not enough light?

If one were to look at the cast of PS-1 (and 2), the sheer number, as Wodehouse would put it, boggles the mind! Yet, only a few stick to mind. Vikram as Aditha Karikalan lives the character, Karthi rides, jumps, flirts, fights, carries the movie with elan, Trisha, despite her anglicized-Tamil diction (dubbed by Krithika Nelson I understand - then why not make it a bit cleaner!) sways in and out efficiently, Aishwarya Rai with a smouldering mind behind that serene visage… Again, no over-the-top histrionics. Just what is needed to move the story. (The acupuncture scene gets a special mention where Prakash Raj tolerates the pain of both the needles and his ministers' treachery!)  #SubduedThespianPS

How could the music be so sublime – well, for most part?

AR Rahman devotes special attention to Mani Ratnam’s movies. PS-1 is no different. The background music here is outstanding: scenes of Nandini, Trisha-Karthi combo; the action blocks etc., are just a scream. 

Yet the songs are a bit of a damp-squib except the peppy Ponni Nadhi; and a different Devaralan Aattam (the choreo for this was on point and reminded me of Veera Pandi Koettaiyile from Thiruda Thiruda!) #NearPitchPerfectPS

***

Ponniyin Selvan as a novel by Kalki Krishnamurthy is a tome of more than 2500 pages. Some people compare it to Game of Thrones – in terms of complexity, number of characters, the intrigue, the tension and what not – all for the sake of attaining the throne. It is a meandering story – much akin to the Ponni aka Cauvery River, with so many key characters that vie for one’s mind space.

To bring it all together; make it into a cogent screenplay; assemble an almost-right cast and crew; work through the pandemic; shoulder the extra-ordinary expectations of the legions of readers; and fight the nay-sayers who were cross with Mani Ratnam for interpreting the epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata in a different manner – it is a fantastic achievement.

But for a few shortcomings, PS-1 is a worthy watch for bringing a much-beloved classic to screen beautifully. I am confident that this and the second part scheduled for 2023 will not be delegated to the PS of Indian movie history.

Go watch!

#sriGINthoughts #reviews #PS1

(From Tabla! 14-Oct-22)