Tag Archives: Rakshit Shetty

Avane Srimannarayana

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Welcome to the wild, wild West! Sachin Ravi’s Avane Srimannarayana is basically an old-fashioned Western featuring bad guys fighting the good guys over the spoils of a robbery that took place 15 years ago. Although over-long and a little slow in places, this is still a rollicking good adventure that has plenty of action and comedy with just a touch of romance. Written by a team of people including Rakshit Shetty who also stars in the film, Avane Srimannarayana references a slew of other films from Sholay to spaghetti westerns like A Fistful of Dollars and almost every gangster movie ever written. Think Quentin Tarantino meets Indiana Jones and Gabbar Singh in a small town in Karnataka, and that’s the general flavour of Avane Srimannarayana.

The film starts with a gangster clan led by Rama Rama (Madhusudhan Rao) confronting a theatre troupe who have stolen a treasure the Abhiras want for themselves. Unluckily, Rama Rama kills everyone apart from the Bandmaster (Gopalkrishna Deshapande) before discovering that the treasure is missing. With the Bandmaster traumatised and unaware of what has happened to the gold, the only clue is a garbled message from one of the actors just before he died. But before Rama Rama can fulfil his vow of killing all the actors’ family members and recovering the treasure, he too dies, leaving behind his legitimate son Jayarama (Balaji Manohar) and illegitimate son Tukaram (Pramod Shetty) to fight over the succession. It’s a forgone conclusion though and the brutal and vicious Jayarama takes over the Abhiras and the search for the treasure, while his exiled brother Tukaram starts a political party with a view to one day ousting his brother and regaining his rightful place. 

15 years later the search for the treasure is still unsuccessful, and Tukaram is still trying to outwit Jayarama. But now Inspector Narayana (Rakshit Shetty) and his capable Constable Achyuthanna (Achyuth Kumar) are drawn into the search for the lost treasure while trying to keep the peace between the townsfolk, Tukaram and the Abhiras under the leadership of Jayarama. Narayana also has to battle his own personal nemesis, reporter Lakshmi (Shanvi Srivastava) who always seems to be in the right place to catch Narayana failing in his duty. But is Narayana searching for the treasure to stop Jayarama’s plans to dispose of him? Or is it to appease Tukaram who is also out for Narayana’s blood? Or does he want the treasure to give to the townsfolk, or even the theatre troupe who are stuck in Amaravati, hiding from the Abhiras? Or, as seems more likely, is Narayana simply hunting for the treasure to keep for himself, provided he can outwit everyone else? 

Rakshit Shetty plays it ultra-cool as Narayana, always just one step away from being too clever and having all his various schemes fall apart at the last minute. He is ably assisted by Achyuth Kumar and the two provide some excellent physical comedy that is a mix of situational and slapstick, but works much better than sounds. The action sequences too are often just edging towards farce, but still edgy and exciting with some well thought-out stunts and special effects. However, at times the action team seem to get carried away by their own cleverness and there is just a little too much going on in some sequences which dulls the overall effect. The character of Narayana is also kept rather too ambiguous, particularly towards the end where it would have helped the story if he had been either a bit more heroic or a bit less self-absorbed. As the villains, Balaji Manohar and Pramod Shetty have more clearly defined characters, one being a typical violent gangster and the other a conniving politician, which, although more predictable, works in their favour during the long and rambling story. As Achyuthanna, Achyuth Kumar also has a more linear character arc and he does full justice to his role with an excellent performance that acts as a perfect balance to Rakshit Shetty’s more volatile Narayana.

More surprisingly, Shanvi Srivastava has a novel role and doesn’t follow the usual path of first hating and then falling in love with the hero of the story. Instead she has a major part to play in the search for the treasure and her machinations turn out to have serious consequences for Narayana’s own chances of success. While it’s disappointing that Lakshmi is the only main female character, it is good to see that she’s not simply a love interest but rather a fully fleshed out additional player in the search for the treasure. Although there is just a whiff of romance at the end, it feels more of a natural development and is so brief that it hardly counts as romance at all.

There are only a few songs and for the most part they are rather underwhelming. I feel that there wasn’t enough musical arrangement – given the lavishness of the sets and the intricacies of the plot, the songs feel rather bare-bones and almost an afterthought. B. Ajaneesh Loknath’s background score is more effective, although again I would have preferred more orchestration to match the grandeur of the visuals. I do like the dance moves though in Hands Up and the overall commitment to the Western Genre throughout.

The film could have done with more editing and there are a number of scenes that don’t add much to the overall story. Some of the action sequences too are overlong, resulting in a rather more bloated screenplay than seems necessary. At just under 3 hours  for the international print (just over for the Indian release) the film is a long watch and it does drag at a few points in the second half. However, it is incredibly well made, with excellent attention to detail and the fictional world of Amaravati is richly portrayed. The entire cast turn in perfect performances and the story is engaging with some good and unexpected twists. There is so much that is good here and despite a few flaws Avane Srimannarayana is well worth watching as part of the new and exciting genre of films coming from Kannada cinema. One to watch in the cinema to fully appreciate the sets and visual spectacle of the film, but make sure you have a comfy seat and the large bucket of popcorn.

Ulidavaru Kandanthe

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Not content with making a name for himself as an actor, in 2014 Rakshit Shetty turned writer and director with his foray into neo-noir crime drama in the excellent Ulidavaru Kandanthe. The English translation of the title is “as seen by the rest”, which refers to an incident seen from a number of different viewpoints that makes up the story of the film. Except it’s not quite as simple as that since the incident itself isn’t revealed until near the end, and even then, it’s not clearly defined. The inspirations are obvious, from Pulp Fiction to Sin City and many more gangster films in between, but it’s the way that Rakshit Shetty has (almost) seamlessly introduced a Rashomon style plot into a very Indian scenario that makes Ulidavaru Kandanthe an instant classic of the new-wave sweeping Kannada cinema.

The film takes the form of chapters based on a series of newspaper articles being written by Regina (Sheetal Shetty) where each interview she conducts gradually reveals more information about the characters and the incident itself. The plot revolves round an unseen MacGuffin that’s stolen by one of the main characters, although to be fair the entire incident is itself a MacGuffin since it’s the characters themselves and the random details of their lives that are the real focus of the story. As Regina interviews the people who were peripherally involved in the incident, we meet a cashew nut seller, a tiger man, a young boy and various gangsters who all have their own views of what occurred on the day in question. It all starts with an old story about 12-year-old Richi who stabbed another boy to death 15 years ago in defence of his friend Raghu. Richi was sent to a remand home for 8 years while Raghu disappeared, but one Krishna Janmaashtami, Raghu comes back.

The story unfolds in a non-linear fashion as each interviewee adds their perception of events. However, rather than just seeing a particular day, what Rakshit Shetty does is show the usual day-to-day events for that person going about their normal life. As far as the action goes, it’s the interactions with key players that inform us as to each major character’s role in subsequent events, but what we really get is an idea of the characters, their thoughts and beliefs and their own impressions of the people involved in the incident. This is partly why the film is so intriguing, as there is no clear-cut description of what actually happened on the fateful day. All we have are impressions, and eye witness accounts of parts of the day, but no-one knows exactly what happened and as the audience we are left unsure as to which version we should trust.

A number of events are shown more than once from different viewpoints, and the more times I watch the film, these repeated scenes throw up more and more questions! I love that my opinion changes slightly each time depending on whose testimony I decide to trust and that I still want to re-watch the film to see if I can spot any other clues. In fact, it’s not until the second watch that much of the film does start to become clear, and once the outcome is known, it’s possible to pick out foreshadowing and significant dialogue that seemed totally innocuous the first-time round.  It’s clever, but not so clever that the film is baffling first time round. It’s more that it becomes richer and more layered with subsequent viewings, and the subtleties of the writing are more easily seen.

The performances too are excellent and contribute to the film’s appeal. Rishab Shetty’s Raghu is somewhat subdued, but then he has escaped Bombay after stealing from his smuggling gang in a stark sequence very reminiscent of Frank Miller’s Sin City. His need to lie-low but desire to contact his mother are well portrayed and in the reunion scenes he is appropriately hesitant and unsure. Tara as Raghu’s mother Ratnakka is outstanding when she meets her son again after 15 years, but she is just as good when gossiping with her friends or selling fish around Malpe. Ratnakka’s story is a short film in its own right, and it allows us to fully appreciate her character and understand her reactions. Not that these are anything beyond what is expected – even down to the usual motherly insistence that her son have something to eat, but throughout Tara conveys Ratnakka’s feelings perfectly and does an excellent job in bringing her character to life. I like the way that Rakshit has given her a life outside of being a mother which gives her character more veracity and empathy.

While Raghu has returned in secret, Richie never left Malpe but instead has made a name for himself as an enforcer for local gangster Shankar Poojary (Dinesh Mangalore).  As Shailesha (Raghu Pandeshvar) puts it so succinctly when he meets Raghu in Bombay, Richie is still a bully and Rakshit Shetty plays him with all the swagger and bravado of a typical Hollywood gangster. It’s often a worry when a director plays a pivotal character as there is a tendency for everyone else to get pushed aside, but that’s not the case here. Rakshit is excellent and his Richie slumps into cars, hitches up his stolen police belt and ensures his reputation for violence is upheld while still ensuring that the rest of the cast are just as important to the story. However, Richie is still the centre of events as he interacts with all of ‘the rest’ from the title, including Regina herself who first saw him as a young by at the remand home. His two sidekicks Dinesha (Pramod Shetty) and Sudhi (Arun Prakash Shetty) have less to do, but each has enough small moments to ensure we have a good idea of their general characters and how they fit into the events of the incident.

My favourite characters though are Munna (Kishore) and Democracy (Master Sohan) who both have significant roles to play in the events of the day. Munna works on the boats as a mechanic, although he gets roped in to painting tigers as apparently that’s very similar to painting boats! Munna spends most of his afternoons following fish seller Sharada (Yagna Shetty) with whom he has fallen hopelessly in love. However, Munna never approaches her and is content to sit behind Sharada on the beach and follow along behind as she walks along the road. His romance adds a lighter note to the film, as does the character of Democracy and his friends who bring energy and life into the film.

I did mention tiger painting, and as part of the festival, one of the other main characters, Balu (Achyuth Kumar) is dancing as one of the tiger men. Achyuth is excellent in his role and the ambiguity of his character is one of the clever touches that Rakshit Shetty has added in to make the story even more captivating. Making Balu a tiger man was inspired and along with the Yakshagana drama ensures the film retains a uniquely South Indian flavour while incorporating many Hollywood themes.

My only issue with the film is that Rakshit Shetty tries to tie everything up neatly by linking events in Malpe to the item stolen by Raghu. I don’t think this works as well and almost seems superfluous given that it’s ultimately not as important as the characters themselves. However, that’s a small quibble and given how much I enjoyed the rest of the film, I’m happy to ignore the unrealistic coincidences and concentrate instead on the characterisations, dialogue and wonderful soundtrack.  It took me a while to track down a copy of Ulidavaru Kandanthe with English subtitles but it was definitely well worth the wait. This style of neo-noir may not be to everyone’s taste but for fans of the genre this is an excellent début from Rakshit Shetty and one I highly recommend. 5 stars!

Kirik Party

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If your only resource was Kirik Party you would think that college in India is a rather different proposition compared to studying in the rest of the world. At Karna’s chosen institution in Hassan there is wide-spread harassment, bullying, plagiarism and various other activities that would see most of the so-called students thrown out after a few weeks if the college was anywhere else. In the happy land of film however, all these excesses are simply high spirits and something to be encouraged while everyone goes home with a qualification despite never appearing to study a day in their lives. I’d hoped for something different in Kirik Party but it follows the same old routine as many other previous campus-based films, even at times coming precariously close to Premam with the back to back romances. However, although many of the situations are clichéd and the students follow the usual template the film itself is reasonably enjoyable. The actors do a good job of creating sympathetic characters and the Kirik Party does manage to touch on some of the unique college experiences that don’t occur at any other time in your life.

Kirik Party begins as Karna (Rakshit Shetty) and his friends start as juniors in college. They’re mainly engineering students with a few studying IT thrown in for variety, but despite their different disciplines they form a tight-knit group of friends. Almost immediately Karna falls for senior student Saanvi Joseph (Rashmika Mandanna) who is surprisingly tolerant of his initial stalking tactics – at least they’re more amusing than usual. Karna enlists his friends as co-conspirators in his pursuit of Saanvi and the romance gradually progresses to the point where Saanvi asks Karna for help to get a pregnant sex-worker to hospital. This seems as if it’s going to be a watershed moment for Karna but at the time he seems to dismiss the incident quickly and it’s not until much later in the film that he starts to think more deeply about the situation. Sadly again this revelation is nothing new, but it’s sympathetically handled and does make Karna a more likeable character. Karna’s interest in popular student Saanvi creates friction with the senior students which allows for some good comedy as the hapless seniors run up against the more organised and ruthless junior students.

The friends indulge in the usual filmi college activities; drinking, skipping class and fighting with the seniors but they do also club together to buy a car which allows them greater freedom and more opportunities for mischief. It also introduces them to a mechanic played by Achyuth Kumar who becomes a permanent fixture in their lives as he is roped in to complete engineering projects for the group. What works best in this half of the film is the easy camaraderie shown between the students who share their love of Upendra films and cool sunglasses. The romance between Karna and Saanvi is also good with a natural progression that makes sense despite their different ages. I like too that she doesn’t immediately fall for the hero, but has to be gradually convinced that there is more to Karna than a superficial glance would suggest. Rakshit Shetty does appear too old to be successful as a junior student but the rest of the group all look suitably youthful and their behaviour is certainly juvenile enough for their supposed ages. Rashmika Bandanna is a real find and is very natural in her role, creating a warm and friendly personality for Saanvi but one who comes across as strong and confident too.

In the second half the group have returned to college as seniors, and I love that this is illustrated by the friends all having grown facial hair. There are signs and posters everywhere in the background proclaiming the desirability of beards since obviously whatever fashion the seniors follow is the only possible trend for the entire college. This is one of the things about life in college that does ring true in the film, as is the complete fixation the students have on small matters while managing to be totally blasé about anything that would imply taking responsibility for their actions. For instance, Karna happily heads off on a road trip, missing weeks of his studies, without any thought of how this will affect his future or that his friends will worry about his absence. In comparison, the outcome of elections for college president is important enough to consume the group for weeks and result in bullying and intimidation tactics to make sure Karna wins.

The tables have turned in the romance stakes too. Now its Karna’s turn to be followed by a junior student who professes her love for him. Samyuktha Hegde is excellent as the happy-go-lucky Aarya who stalks Karna and repeatedly proclaims her love for the now surly and argumentative senior. The events of the first half subtly repeat while in both romances the women are looking for the different side to Karna. Rakshit Shetty is much better in the second half as the older and (possibly) wiser Karna, and he seems to be more comfortable with the characterisation too. The resolution to his own personal dilemma is also well handled and gives Karna an opportunity to mature, just as you’d expect towards the end of college.

There isn’t much time spent on the rest of the friends but they all seem to be a typical bunch of students in film-land, while Raghu Pandeshwar is fine as the college principal. The music from B. Ajaneesh Loknath is excellent and perfectly added to the narrative so that dialogue segues into songs and back into dialogue seamlessly. The songs too are catchy and fit well into the student setting, making Kirik Party more of a true musical rather than simply a film with added song and dance numbers. The action scenes are also well choreographed and apart from one brilliantly called as a cricket game are mostly of the slappy variety that seems more natural for this style of film.

Although the story and the characters don’t break any new ground, overall the film is entertaining with plenty of comedy and enough drama to keep it interesting. I would have liked more realism in the depiction of student life, but that wouldn’t have given Karna and his friends time to indulge in their various vices and ultimately that’s the whole point of the film. Kirin Party is a good, entertaining time-pass, but don’t expect anything more from Rishab Shetty’s foray into student life.