‘Monsoon Raag’ movie review: An immaculate celebration of love in the rainy season

Mungroo Means ‘monsoon’ in Kannada. This is a season that is preferred by many filmmakers, as the love stories set during the monsoons are well received by the audience. Mungaru MaleThe 2006 film Yograj Bhat starring Ganesh was one such film in which the monsoon rains were a metaphor for the gloomy protagonist. The film created history in Kannada cinema with its tremendous success and its 2016 sequel Mungroo Male 2 The expectations were met.

now, Monsoon Raj Capitalizing on this trend, director S. Rabindranath’s effort, and he employs rain as a character in the film, which is shot entirely during monsoon and most of the scenes have rain – real rain and not fake rain set – as the background. . as in the case of Mungaru MaleThe title track of this film also has a melodious track set in the rain called Megharajana Raga Honeygaldante Which is sung by Arvind Venugopal and composed by Anoop Silin.

monsoon melody A faithful remake of the critically acclaimed Telugu anthology c/o kancharapalem By debutant Venkatesh Maha, who received various awards and was also screened in some international film festivals. But the makers of the original and the makers of the remake have different concerns. While the original filmmaker Venkatesh Maha intended to explore the concept of love when the insensitivity of religion, caste, age and gender comes between human relationships, this Kannada remake has been approached with pure commercial interest, with no one portrayed. The issue has also not been addressed. the former.

While Venkatesh Maha hires real people from Kancharapalem, a neighborhood in Visakhapatnam, to act in his film, Rabindranath believes in trained, renowned actors. It focuses on their stardom rather than letting the content do the talking. Unlike this remake, the original was also rooted in the ethos of the land, language and culture.

The story, set in Gokarna, a small coastal town in the Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka, portrays four characters, Katte, Raju, Joseph and Sundara, who yearn for true love in a region where caste and religion affect the lives of people. dominates.

The film revolves around 49-year-old Raju (Achyut Kumar), an attendant in a government office, and his friendship with senior officer Hasini (Suhasini Mani Ratnam), a widowed woman and her 20-year-old daughter. Is. , In the process of narrating the story of Raju and Hasini, Rabindranath also tells the story of Sundara (10 year old school boy) and his friend Suchitra of the same age; Katte (Dhananjay), a liquor store assistant, and Asma (Rachita Ram), a sex worker; Joseph, a henchman of the local swami, and Raag Sudha (Yasha Shivakumar), a courageous, straightforward girl form a conservative family.

However, the director has handled even this deep-seated tale with great sensitivity; We can see this in the dignified way in which he portrays the character of Asma, which is in stark contrast to all the cliched representations that sex workers get in mainstream cinema. Rachita Ram captivated the audience with her realistic look of a woman in the 70s with vintage puff sleeves and floral printed saris. Suhasini Mani Ratnam, who shared the screen with Achyut Kumar, stole the show with her classic approach to the happy, romantic character (far from the emotional roles we often see her in these days).

Yasha Sivakumar also slips comfortably into her role as a college-going rebellious girl, and is a makeover for Dhananjya, who is known for portraying dark and conflicting roles. Here, he plays the role of an innocent man with an extremely sensitive approach to life. But Rabindranath has included some unnecessary scenes to celebrate his new-found stardom. SK Rao’s cinematography, and Anoop Silin’s background score need special appreciation for creating an organic feel of the monsoon season on the screen.

All ‘reel people’ (as opposed to ‘real people’) c/o kancharapalem ) justify their roles, but well-known faces take away the shine from a story that could have captivated the audience even more.