Manasu Mallige (Kannada)
Director: S. Narayan
Cast: Nishanth, Rinku Rajguru
Manasu Mallige is not just ‘based on’ Nagaraj Manjule’s acclaimed film Sairat . It tries to recreate the Marathi original frame by frame. In fact, what works in favour of S. Narayan’s version of Sairat is precisely this — that it tries so hard to mimic the original. And this is not just in terms of the broader plot about inter-caste marriage, including the gut-wrenching climax, but the background score and the songs too.
Ajay-Atul have retained the tunes of the songs and only replaced lyrics. Rinku Rajguru essays the same role in the Kannada version. Instead of Archana, she is Sanjana Patil here. Instead of Prashant, she is in love with Parashuram (Nishant) here. Even some of the dialogues are literal translations from Marathi to Kannada.
The question, however, is whether the effort to recreate the magic of the original has been successful.
Manasu Mallige is not a perfectly made film. And this is obvious in the lack of attention given to tiny and basic details: the wallpaper image of a waterfall in a song, the random inserts of traffic scenes shot on a different format, the abrupt manner in which a zoom or a pan is cut, the conscious and rehearsed manner in which Rinku utters the Kannada dialogues etc. These elements interfere with the experience of the film and even give it an amateur look.
In fact, Narayan’s version comes across as a poorer cousin of the original especially in terms of its production quality. In terms of cinematography, there are stark differences in the mood of the film swinging revoltingly from the idyllic and the beautiful to the jarring.
But if you force yourself to overlook these obvious flaws, the strength of Manasu Mallige ultimately is that it brings to Kannada Manjule’s powerful story. It brings well-rounded and nuanced characters of Sanjana and Parshu who lull you into partaking in their dreamy, naive love story only to finally leave you devastated and heartbroken. It presents a hard-hitting story about caste in the garb of a commercially-viable love story. And finally, it shows that a film can be powerful with a strong script alone as its backbone, minus the ‘compulsions’ of a comedy track, an item song and so on.
It is hard not to make comparisons though, especially since the magic of Sairat was so palpable. There are many moments from Sairat that Narayan manages to recreate as beautifully: the kho-kho match scene in which Sanju gives Parshu a hint that she too likes him, the scene in which Sanju threatens to beat anyone who raises a hand on Parshu leading up to the equally beautiful song Adaviyolage. The song itself is magical for it gives voice to a girl’s feelings on seeing a boy, on looking forward to the next meeting, a future and so on.
Then there is the hard-hitting climax, which jolts you out of the happy-ending you had been expecting. Manasu Mallige, just by retaining the climax as it is, has managed to stand by what is perceived to be uncomfortable and ‘unpalatable’ for our audiences. And that is no easy feat.
Nishant as Parshu is believably naive. There are moments though when his performance veers close to the melodramatic. Rinku, despite drawing attention to her Kannada, delivers a powerful performance.
Manasu Mallige may not be made well, but its choice to narrate a powerful story makes you want to overlook its cinematic deficiencies. The allure, though, still lies in the script.
