Saturday, January 19, 2008

Gaalipata - Film Review

Tickets for Gaalipata were already sold out in multiplexes in Bangalore and in single screen theatres one could hardly expect getting a ticket in the first few days of the film release standing in queues. But finally we managed to get the balcony ticket in black for Rs.150/- paying thrice the original price in Eshwari theatre at Banashankari, Bangalore. Anyway it is a different experience altogether watching most hyped film on the second day of release itself. In the company of Shande, a self-confessed movie buff and Harsha, I was about to see the most expected movie of 2008, Gaalipata.

Few films live up to the hype created. But Gaalipata neither belong to the elite class nor the average. I would rate it above average purely because cinematography and songs filling the void created by unimpressive script.
Gaalipata Kannada film poster
Picture Courtesy : http://www.chitraloka.com/

Best things first : Hats off to Randy (Rathnavelu) for giving us a visual treat of unknown Karnataka through his brilliant camera work. Frankly speaking, songs, lyrics and screenplay steal the show rather than the plot. Mugilupete as imgined by director Yogaraj Bhat is simply awesome. In depicting Mugilu Pete, he has brilliantly used the peaks of Kodachadri in western ghats and Shivanasamudra waterfalls in Mandya district, cascades of which are called Gaganachukki and Bharachukki. Most of the film is shot in Kodachadri with the climax of the film being in Shivanasamudra. Ganesh has repeated his Mungaru Male style of dialogue delivery which seems blind continuation of Mungaaru Male dialogues but only for some good, humorous one liners. When you have 3 pairs on screen in a single movie it becomes tough task to give equal importance for all the three. Naturally, Yogaraj Bhat has given Ganesh more screen space considering his present status in Kannada industry. But surprisingly new comer Bhavana Rao gets more screen space among the three female leads. But that doesn’t take away anything from Neethu’s mannerisms or Daisy’s silence. But the real surprise package is Diganth nicknamed doodh peda in the film who walks with honors for that innocent role. Ananth Nag is at his usual best but there is nothing special demand from the script from the veteran. Yogaraj Bhat seems to have done in his home work well and gets distinction grades in song picturizations, location selection but fails in the plot he designed much similar to most hyped films in Bollywood, latest to the edition being Om Shanti Om.

The plot : Begins with three friends Ganesh(Ganesh), Diganth(Diganth) and Keerthi(Rajesh) in Bangalore getting fed up with city life and starting their journey towards Mugilupete in search of peace.Kodand Rao(Ananth Nag) lives in Mugilupete with daughters Paavani(Bhavana), Radha(Neethu) and daughter-in-law Sowmya(Daisy), who is a widow. Three contemporary love stories begin though in three different fashions. There is no twist to any of the love stories which cut a sorry figure. In the end all the three pairs start living happily ever after. Yogaraj Bhat seems to have marketed his movie well with beautiful songs and locales but how much he translates it into box office collections remains a big question with a weak plot. Movie runs at slow pace with most of the time being spent in hunting that ever mischievous wild boar. Full marks to the graphics team of the film for creating wild boar on screen as if it was real.

Question which Shande asked me after the film - How is the title Gaalipata(kite) suits the theme?, made me seach for answers. May be, because it is an experiment of a film with no real plot to look for or it might be that kite represents impossible becoming I am possible with no barriers as in the case of three love stories though Ganesh – Sowmya story being a lighter exception. Some intentions of the movie director have been good – like Kodanda Rao seeing Varaha(one of Lord Vishnu’s avataaras)in wild boar to say that animals are not there to fulfill man’s desires or Ganesh who studied in convent trying to learn reading and writing Kannada to impress Sowmya to say that we are forgetting our roots, but only fail to impress. But having said all these, it is surely one-time-watch movie if you forget everything and just enjoy the scenic beauty of Malnad.

To conclude, Indian cricket team’s win at Perth in 3rd test against Australia and thus breaking Aussies 16 match win streak made up for the slight disappointment caused by the much hyped movie!!!

Regards,
Raveesh

Also Read,
Mungaaru Male Impact on Gaalipata
ಗಾಳಿಪಟದ ನಿರೀಕ್ಷೆಯಲ್ಲಿ
Mungaaru Male Completes 1 year at PVR Cinemas,Bangalore
ವರುಷ ಕಳೆದರೂ ನಿಲ್ಲದ ಮಳೆ

13 comments:

  1. nice interpretation of abstract title 'Gaalipata'.

    -- self confessed movie buff[:)]

    ReplyDelete
  2. good post...
    If i were given a chance to write a review about this movie, i would struggle to give 2 stars.
    There are lot of questions still unanswered
    1)what happened to the bullet mark on diganth..
    2) why will sowmya like ganesh, not even one romantic scene between them
    3) why will she say "NO" initially and say "YES" afterwords.
    4) as you said, whats the prominance of gaalipata..
    5) isnt it stupidity to make wild boar as "HERO"..
    6) all of a sudden how does anant nag's legs gets back to normal..

    shit!!!! too many.. very disappointed.. cant believe what he has created.. pathetic movie..

    lets come to the good points..
    1) cinematagraphy..
    2) songs
    3) lyrics
    4) daisy bopanna :P

    and nothing else...

    ReplyDelete
  3. ಯಾಕೋ ಗಾಳಿಪಟ ಹಾರ್ಕೊಂಡ್ ಹೋಗೋ ಹಾಗಿದೆ!! :-)

    ಚೆನ್ನಾಗಿ ಬರ್ದಿದ್ದೀರ ರಿವ್ಯೂವನ್ನು.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Shande/Pavan/Parisarapremi,

    Thank you all for your comments. Film could have been done better with a neat, fresh plot. But expectations are always high when a director's previous film becomes a hit.

    ReplyDelete
  5. olle review. congrats for getting mentioned on thatskannada.com!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thanks for the excellent review and saving my money/time..

    ReplyDelete
  7. Guys! I dont know what to say. Is it really that important to answer all the queries u have? Aren't unanswered questions an essence of GAALIPATA? And why on earth do u create such bad impressions in ppl who wud want to see it. For god sake its better than movies of DARSHAN and SHIVARAJKUMAR and remakes....
    And guys we should be extreemly fortunate of having a director who has confisence enough to script a simple and yet multi-star film.
    I personally felt that every shot had a very strong miscenscene.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hi Sand,

    Thank you for your comments. See we are not here to create any bad impression of the movie. It is just that we have highlighted both best and not so good points in the movie. Perception of any thing is left to an individual. So it is always relative.

    If a film can invoke so much debate, that has to be good in majority. May be because our expectations were too high before seeing the film, by seeing trailors,songs, I personally guessed the story in while watching the movie.

    See if you have not seen Mungaaru Male you will like the movie much more. But for a guy like me who has watched Mungaaru Male so many times Gaalipata seemed plain continuation of Mungaaru Male. Its human nature to compare.

    I definitely agree that Gaalipata is 1000 times better than any 'mass movie'(as they call it) or longu machchu movie.

    Please note that I have highlighted all the good points in the movie. But what I feel only songs, locations, scenary does not make every movie goer happy all the time.

    Raveesh

    ReplyDelete
  9. review, I culd not read fully, it wuld be nice to read in kannada and its fast for me, n next time while giving link of an article pls give the link of article and not the website.. it will b easy for readers get directly to, then they will see other things.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hi Venkven,

    Yes,that is right. Reading in Kannada is lot easier for some people.

    But I did not get which is the link you are referring to, for which I have provided only the website link.

    Thanks
    Raveesh

    ReplyDelete
  11. It's not average. It's evergreen cult classic. I am writing this review in 2024.that day in 2008 you might have felt like that, anyway it was superhit and stays in kannadigas heart forever and our generation keep watching it multiple times. But you have to agree it's cult movie gem. Can we find any such movie nowadays in any language including kannada, no way chancey illa. Impossible!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes it is a cult movie, Infact we have named our YouTube channel - Gaalipata!

      Delete

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