'Garagasa': a pleasant, offbeat Kannada entertainer (Movie Review)

Film: 'Garagasa'; Cast: Anant Nag, Komal, Sudharani, Ramesh Bhat, Nagabharana and others; Story-Screenplay-Direction: Dinesh Babu; Producer: U. Srinivasulu, Krishna; Dialogues: Rajendra Karanth; Music: Manikanth Kadri; Photography: Dinesh Babu

'Garagasa' is a pleasant Kannada entertainer that strikes you initially with its punchy dialogues. As the film moves on, it acquires strength in terms of performance and content. It is a rib-tickling comedy and hero Komal, who is a talented actor, gives his best performance so far.

In fact, 'Garagasa' has most of the things that are non-filmy and hence a large section of regular filmgoers looking for gloss may find it disappointing. In a way, director Dinesh Babu has dispensed with the regular tone of film narration and followed a different pattern.

'Garagasa' is more like watching a good play in a theatre. The majority of the film runs in a room and you don't see any visual splashes. The hero of the film and the other important character played by Anant Nag dominate the film's narrative. They are seen in the same set of costumes invariably throughout the movie.

Dinesh Babu has depended more on the strength of dialogues to create maximum impact of comedy. He should have taken care to fine-tune the few sequences in the beginning that not only confuse the audience but are also torturous.

The music department has also failed to create a good impact.

Though the director claims that the whole plot of the film is his own, it has been heavily inspired by the French film 'Dinner Game' and the Hindi movie 'Bheja Fry'.

A garrulous person is often called 'Garagasa' in Kannada slang. And the story revolves around a film storywriter, Muniya, who meets a Kannada film producer, Parthasarathy, to convince him about his story. The meeting takes place in the evening and initially the producer is terrorised by Muniya, who leaves no stone unturned to convince him.

However, later it turns out that the storywriter doubles up as a trouble-shooter and problem solver for the producer. The producer, who has faced many personal problems in his life, finds to his dismay that the writer turns out to be a healer of sorts. Muniya also unites the warring family of a film director and his wife in the process.

Komal was so far used in films as a comedian and most of his roles were as a sidekick of the hero. Despite insignificant roles, Komal showcased flashes of brilliance and won a state award and other honours for his performances.

In 'Garagasa', he goes several steps ahead to prove his talent.

Anant Nag is a brilliant actor and he is in his element in the film providing a perfect foil to Komal's comedy antics. Sudharani and Nagabharana too provide a delightful angle to the film with their good performances.

If you are ready to see a film sans any gloss and rich visuals and is prepared to laugh to a non-stop garrulous talk, then 'Garagasa' may well impress you.

Copyright  IANS

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