Film: Monsoon Raga
Producer: Vikyath
Director: Ravindranath
Starring: Achyuth Kumar, Suhasini, Dhananjay, Rachita Ram, Shivank, Shobharaj, Yasha Shivakumar and others
Stars: 3
It is quite natural that films which have big stars and which are big hits in one language being remade to other languages. A lot of such commercial entertainers have been remade in Kannada previously. But with the mindset and tastes of the people changed in the last few years, director Ravindranath has brought a raw, critically acclaimed film with literally newcomers to Kannada in the name of ‘Monsoon Raga’.
But what was a raw, soulful film with realistic performances has been remade as a commercial film with well known actors, big budget and grand cinematic experience. The soul of the film is almost missing, but still manages to engage the audience.
‘Monsoon Raga’ tells the various facets of love. The film has childhood love, teenage love, pure love and mature love. All the stories are placed in different time zones and is setup in the temple town of Gokarna. The film starts with the 49 year old Raju (Achyut Kumar) a attender in a government office. Raju is a bachelor and the whole town pesters him to get married. Soon a Telugu speaking superior officer called Hasini (Suhasini) is transferred to his office. Hasini is a widow and has a 20 year old daughter.
While, telling the story of Raju and Hasini, the other three stories also comes in between. One is a story of Sundara a 10 year old school boy and his friendship with Suchitra, followed by teenage love story of Joseph and Raga Sudha (Shivank and Yasha Shivakumar) and a mature love story of Katte and Asma (Dhananjaya and Rachita Ram). There is one common point to all the four stories and that is the highlight of the film.
‘Monsoon Raga’ is the remake of critically acclaimed Telugu film called ‘C/O Kancherpalem’. As told earlier, Ravindranath has made a commercial entertainer with reel performances out of a raw and soul stirring film. Though he has changed the film a lot, he has handled the story with sensitivity. The love story of a prostitute is handled in a most dignified manner and is presented in a classy way.
The film however has its dull moments, but Ravindranath manages to lift the film with various twists and turns. This is not a very new concept in Kannada cinema. Simple Suni’s critically acclaimed film ‘Bahuparaak’ is in the same lines and such an experiment was made a few years ago. However, the film could not make it big.
Though there are four stories and various characters in the film, it is Achyuth Kumar who is the hero of the film. The film revolves mainly around the characters of Achyuth and Suhasini and they steal the show with their performances. Dhananjay who is often seen in rugged roles plays the role of an innocent guy to the core. Rachita Ram appeals with a realistic performance. The rest of the star cast including Shivank, Shobharaj, Yasha Shivakumar have given adequate support. Anoop Seelin’s music and background music and S K Rao’s cinematography gets a special mention.
