Film audiences, in trade parlance are divided into A, B and C centres, meaning city, town and villages in that order. Appealing to all three is any filmmaker’s fantasy. C is treated with an air of condescension but reality is that if they throng the movie hall the producer’s coffers will overflow. I cannot pinpoint when or how this happened but now, especially in Karnataka you have the T (techies) centre. They are rabid film lovers, disgruntled at the fare being churned out especially in Kannada. But if they smell something interesting, they go viral in promoting it. It probably started with ‘Mungaru Male’ and peaked with ‘Lucia’. They were so possessive about the latter that vitriol was poured if someone dared dislike the film. They cannot be blamed because while most filmmakers are busy deciding on which hit to clone, very few even attempt anything interesting. An industry wag told me it’s easy to impress techies. “You just have to befuddle them,” he smirked.
Take a generous portion of ‘Rashomon’. Add some ‘Amores Perros’. Sprinkle some ‘Nayagan’ and stir with ‘Kill Bill’. Garnish it with a couple of Guy Ritchie films and you have ‘Ulidhavaru Kandanthe’. Now there’s nothing wrong. Inspiration is better than plagiarism and it’s more in the style than in the content. The basic premise is from Kurosawa’s evergreen classic, ‘Rashomon’. Like beauty, truth lies in the eyes of the beholder. It’s more a perception. When I asked Mani Ratnam if he’d watched ‘Dayavan’ (Nayakan in Hindi) he smiled and said, “I watched a couple of scenes. Feroz Khan just hasn’t got the point.” That’s what’s happened with Rakshit Shetty. He just hasn’t understood ‘Rashomon’. The perspective of the various characters narrating an incident never changes. In the bargain what we get is the same scene shot from different angles. An interesting plot which could have been narrated straight is convoluted simply to seem different. To be fair Rakshit shows immense promise. His shot taking is impressive aided amply by his cinematographer and detailing meticulous. The problem is that like most directors he’s possessive and enamoured with his own work. He seems to have forgotten to say ‘cut’ is some scenes and obviously hasn’t let the editor do his job. The characterisation is interesting, especially the kid called ‘democracy’. The music suits the milieu though you sometimes wish you could press the ‘mute’ button. The spoken lingo is also a problem. Some Kannadigas wished the whole film was subtitled in Kannada! You appreciate ‘UK’ more for the effort than the end product. Kannada filmmakers have found free publicists in eager techies. All they have to do is strive to meet their meagre expectations.
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A kid watches his mother’s throat being slit, sans emotions. A few seconds later the place is littered with dead bodies. When his grandma admonishes him for the cold-blooded slaying his father stops her and declares, “A legend is born”. The tone for unabated violence is set. Politicians and the police are corrupt while the poor are pulverized. ‘Legend’ played by the king of kitsch Nandamuri Balakrishna raves and rants. Both the hero and villain kill at will, but the difference is that hero does it only when his family is threatened which is acceptable!?! The line between good and bad, hero and villain has blurred. You start wondering why people root for the hero whose intentions are ambiguous while there’s clarity in the baddie’s thoughts. The ‘punch’ dialogues are replete with political innuendo. “If you get BP your PA may worry but If I get it the whole of AP will be worried,” is one sample. “Politics may be in the food you eat, even the bed you lie on but for me it’s in the blood,” is another. The violence is nauseating, acting over the top and the attempts at comedy weak. If there’s a ‘count the number of corpses’ contest nobody will win. The screen is crowded with characters be it good or bad. Vehicles are destroyed, limbs dismembered and bones broken with a sickening sound.
All this doesn’t matter because ‘Legend’ has stormed the box-office. Balakrishna has had a chequered career but has a faithful following. With his political ambitions at a peak ‘Legend’ has hit the bull’s eye at the right time. “I’ll always be there for you,” proclaims Balakrishna in the end addressing a massive gathering.
E-mail the writer at sshivu6@gmail.com
