A cause with content

Sarkari Hiriya Prathamika Shale, Kasaragodu, Koduge Ramanna Rai (Kannada)

Director: Rishab Shetty

Cast: Ananth Nag, Pramod Shetty, Ranjan, Sampath, Mahendra, Prakash Tumminad

Rishab Shetty’s third and ambitious directorial venture

Sarkari Hiriya Prathamika Shala, Kasaragodu, Koduge Ramanna Rai (SHPSK), which triggered curiosity because of its title and content, succeeds in vividly portraying the plight of Kannada-medium schools in areas bordering Karnataka.

It is powerful enough to make the government rethink its plans of closing down schools for want of enrolment. The film raises the issue of the Kerala government recently appointing a Malayalam teacher in a Kannada-medium school of Kasargod and underscores the importance of nurturing a healthy linguistic relation with the neighbouring States. The director does this without projecting Kerala government or Malayalis in bad light. He does not forget to address the inferiority complex that many Kannada-medium students develop.

Shetty deals with this complex and nuanced issue without making the film preachy or resorting to chest thumping parochialism. This is exactly where the film differs from other Kannada films that dealt with a similar subject, like

Prarthane (2012) for instance.

This film employs a teenage love story and uses the right proportion of humour to get the message across. The film begins with the reopening of a Kannada-medium school in Kasargod after summer vacation and ends with “reopening” of the school, which was closed because of machinations of a Malayalam education officer after a bitter, but humorous battle with the students led by a fun-loving teacher, sociologist and criminologist from Mysuru.

The first half entertains the audience with Praveena, the oldest students in the class for having failed three times, and his blossoming infatuation with his classmate Pallavi. After the interval, the film starts crawling to find its logical end. The director somehow lacked in creating an impressive character in Ananthapadmanabha, which is essayed by Anant Nag.

Shetty also doesn’t offer a convincing reason as to why one person from Mysuru should come to Kasargod to save the school.

Vasuki Vaibhav’s compositions help in lifting the film in the second half. Of course, Venkatesh Anguraj provides the perfect coastal backdrop for the film through his camera work. Crisp editing would have made the film more effective.