The audience needs to have lot of patience to watch Male Nilluvavarege , with a tag line Beware of Rain, as it is dialogue driven thriller drama woven around an incident that takes place in one night. Though Male (rain) is being used as a metaphor for romance and love these days, the director used it to represent guilt and tries to make the film different from the violent and romantic films hitting the screens these days.
The film is an adaption of the English play Deadly Game , written in the sixties, which was translated into Kannada by L.N. Sudheendra.
Since the play is a court drama and a test of the audience’s patience, director Mohan introduced a few characters to provide a different treatment to the story. He has also created some sleazy situations to grab attention.
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The story is about making a person admit his guilt in a fictitious court created by five characters; a retired judge, a public prosecutor, defence lawyer, hangman and an accused, who has spent 14 years in prison. Those interested to know about the crime committed by the protagonist and how the former jurists make him confess have to watch the movie till the end.
The film begins with Mohan (protagonist), a businessman, encountering eerie situations as a preamble to the incidents that unfold later. Once the story shifts to a huge bungalow nestled in a remote part of the Western Ghats, the story moves without break. Mohan enters the house after his vehicle breaks down and becomes a part of the ‘legal game’.
Though Dattanna, Sharat Lohitashwa, Srinivas Prabhu excel in their roles as usual, Kari Subbu steals the show with his rustic performance. Mohan tried his best to fill life into the character. Mumbai girl Kavitha Bohra is apt for the role of seductress. The talent of M.N. Lakshmidevi is wasted in an insignificant role.
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Director Mohan undertook the job of writing the story, script, dialogue and direction, besides producing the film. That’s not all. He even wrote a song and essayed the protagonist’s role. The film looks like it was shot in the order in which the story unfolds, which is rare these days.
Male Nilluvavarege (Kannada)
Direction: S. Mohan
Cast: S. Mohan, Kavitha Bohra, Dattanna, Sharat Lohitashwa, Srinivasa Prabhu, Chati Suresha, Kari Subbu