Saavu Dhyeyakilla

Saavu Dhyeyakilla (No death for Goals) @ HN Kalakshetra 21st July 2007

Staged by : Darpana
Script, Screenplay, Lyrics, Dialogues and Direction by : K Sri (K Srinivas)
Lights : Jagadeesh
Make-Up : Ramakrishna Kannarpadi/Vijay Kumar
Costume Designer : N.MangaLa
Sets and Properties: Vasu/Abhijith/Manjunath

Sounds like an inspiring title right?? Yes it is!! Its a tale of patriotism and goals.. goals which dont have death! But not of the present times wherein people are forgetting what true patriotism means and are turning towards fanaticism in the viel of patriotism! Its a tale of burning desire of one man to free his motherland first from the clutches of a foreign invader and then to cleanse or remove autocracy. And how he achieves this with his great tact and knowledge of politics and statecraft forms the crux of the story. Yes its about Chanakya (famously known by this name, Vishnugupta or Kautilya as he has been referred to in history) who has given us "Arthashastra".

Arthashastra is "a book of political realism, a book analysing how the political world does work and not very often stating how it ought to work, a book that frequently discloses to a king what calculating and sometimes brutal measures he must carry out to preserve the state and the common good." Centrally, Arthaśāstra argues for an autocracy managing an efficient and solid economy. It discusses the ethics of economics and the duties and obligations of a king. The scope of Arthaśāstra is, however, far wider than statecraft, and it offers an outline of the entire legal and bureaucratic framework for administering a kingdom, with a wealth of descriptive cultural detail on topics such as mineralogy, mining and metals, agriculture, animal husbandry and medicine. The Arthaśāstra also focuses on issues of welfare (for instance, redistribution of wealth during a famine) and the collective ethics that hold a society together. - Wikipedia

This story is about the life and growth of Vishnugupta from a normal teacher in Takshashila to a powerful and tactful prime minister of Chandragupta Maurya. Vishnugupta faces immense humiliation from Dhanananda, the ruler of Nanda dynasty when he approaches him with pleads about safegaurding the nation from the invader from Greece, Alexander. Vishnugupta takes an oath that he would not to tie his long hair(shikhe) until he overthrows Dhanananda from the throne. In the process of searching like minded people who are passionate about protecting the country against invasion, he chances upon the young Chandragupta who impresses Vishnugupta/Chanakya with his leadership qualities. Chanakya decides to mentor him and vows to make him the emperor of India. He also gets some more people as aides to Chandragupta like Simharana, Alakanandindi, etc., With his tactful thoughts, wit and usage of all the political tactics like using spies, bribery he manages to break the unity amongst the Nandas and overthrows Dhanananda thus completing his oath! Chandragupta Maurya is made the king of Magadha. He then wants to make Amatya Rakshasha who is the most trusted and ablest minister of Nanda Kingdom as one amongst the ministers of Chandragupta Maurya. To get this thing done, he again hatches a plot against Amatya Rakshasha in acquiring his ring and using it to prove that he is not loyal to the Nandas. This incident is famously known as Mudra-Rakshasa in literature. Finally Chanakya manages to bring Amatya Rakshasha under Chandragupta Maurya and leaves Magadha for Takshashila.

This complex story of politics, deceit, plots, visha-kanyas, statesmanship and changing loyalties which lead to a stable and strong empire has been enacted by Darpana troupe. And they have done their best in doing justice to this long and hard to enact tale. Scripted by K Srinivas the drama has got its own defining moments where Chanakya swears on Dhanananda to overthrow him, the plot to kill Bhadrasena, defeating Dhanananda, and finally the Mudra-Rakshasha story are where the actors have excelled. K Sree(as K Sreenivas is known popularly) has given some modern touch to the play with usage of modern Kannada language at places. Also in the war sequences, the usage of Kalaripayattu (Kerala's traditional martial art form) gives the viewer a visual treat. Costumes by N Mangala are truly imaginative yet realistic enough to give a feel of the ancient Magadha. The story told from the point of view of the rivers of Magadha Kingdom - Ganga, Sindhu and Jheelum, where the three rivers are personified and act as sutradhaaras for the play is really innovative. Music by Saikiran leaves a perfect impact at the right time though I felt the drums were a bit loud at times.

Coming to the actors, its Shesha Murthy who plays Chanakya who leaves a big impact with his thundering performance. Malatesh who plays Simharana is very good in his bodylanguage and narration as usual. Nirmala C who plays Alakanandini leaves a good impact. Nanjunda Murthy Rao (whom we better know as Mukta Nanjunda) has given one of his best performances as Bhadrasena. Others who leave a good impression are Rakshit Shetty who plays Chandragupta, Lokesh Gowda as Dhanananda and Santosh Shivling as Nipunaka. Totally a great team work in enacting this story! The lights and makeup are truly apt and well suited for the scenes and hence the characters.

On the flip side, at places prounounciation by some actors were not that clear. May be due to the poor acoustics of the auditorium! I personally feel the team should work on this aspect to improve the impact of the play. Knowing the vastness of the story and large number or characters and references to people and understanding the difficulty of the performers (some being amateur performers or budding artists) their effort shows off in bringing out their best.

All the best team!! Will look forward for your performance again!!


A note to the people who want to watch this play! Brush up the history about Chanakya or else you might feel lost!

Ninade Nenapu

Ninade Nenapu

Audio Release by Sony BMG
Music Director: Mahesh Patel and Ram Sampat
Director: Madan Patel

Sony BMG enters Kannada music scene with Madan Patel's venture for his son Mayur Patel's "Ninade Nenapu".

"Yaare Sakhi Ninna Sakha" sung by Udit Narayan and Anuradha Sriram and lyrics by Aanand V. A mediocre duet. Anuradha Sriram returns with her shrill voice! Udit is good as usual.

"Ibbaniyali Mindide Preetiyali Toydide" sung by Chitra and with lyrics by Vijaya Karnataka Editor Vishweshwar Bhat is a melodious number with good lyrics.

"Heegeke Nange Nenapaaguve" sung by Kunal Ganjawala and lyrics by Kaviraj is a slow number with good music. Sounds like the title song of the movie.

"Karagi Karagi Neeraagi HOde" sung by Chaitra and Satish Aryan and lyrics by Manjunath Rao is a sensuous number with good music and great singing by Chaitra.

"Manasu Idre Maarga Anta" sung by Satish Aryan and lyrics by Nagendra Prasad is about hardships in life and how to face them. Satish has got a different voice but definitely needs a tune up.

"Dayamaadi Baa Preeti" sung by Chaitra and Nitin Shastri and lyrics by Nagendra Prasad is a dance number with fast pacy music and good rendition by both the singers.

"Ibbaniyali Mindide Preetiyali Toydide" sung by Sona is diferent to hear in the voice of Sona. Quite different from Chitra's version.

"Heegeke Nanninda Doorade nee" sung by Rajesh Krishnan and lyrics by Manjunath Rao is a typical viraha geete. Rajesh puts his heart into his rendition.

"O Nanna Geleyane Hrudaya Koogide" sung by Sona and lyrics by Manjunath Rao is about memories of lover. Sona disappoints in this song.

"Naane Kane Ninna Sakha" sung by Rajesh Krishnan and lyrics by Manjunath Rao is a short version of Yaare Sakhi Ninna sakha.

Savi Savi Nenapu

Savi Savi Nenapu

Audio Released by Jhankar

Music Director : R P Patnayak

Director : Santosh Rai Pataje

Producer: S V Babu

Prem's next movie Savi Savi Nenapu where he appears in his new avataar has got a good music by R P Patnayak.

The album kicks off with "Saviyo Saviyu" sung by Sonu Nigam and Shreya Ghoshal with lyrics by Nagatihalli Chandrashekar. The lyrics are too good and music is soft and grows slowly. Sonu and Shreya put life into the song but I feel Sonu's pronounciation could have been better".

"Haadu Haadu" sung by Prem himself with lyrics by Hridayashiva is a fast number. A youthful number. Prem doesnt impress with his singing.

"Savi Savi Nenapu" the title song rendered by R P Patnayak and Sunita is a great one with respect to the music and lyrics by Jayant Kaikini. A melodious song. Sunita is great with her fresh voice.

"Naa Nana Nanana" sung by Karthik with lyrics by Hridayashiva is a rip off from an English number. Karthik impresses with his rendition. Its all about youth, josh and love! Good mix of western beats and classical instruments.

"Kaanuva Notave" sung by new comer Apoorva Sridhar and lyrics by K Kalyan. Good to hear Apoorva. She has got a good song to start up her career. The music switches from slow to fast to slow. Good orchestration of the song. Thanks RP for giving us a new singer!! The lyrics are about departing from lover and the rememberances associated.

"Nenapu Nenapu" sung by S P Balasubramanyam and lyrics by Hridayashiva is the best number in the album. A slow song with great music.Rememberances of the girl - thats what is all the song is about. Captivating lyrics indeed. We get to know why SP is still the best!

"Sooryanu Ee Divasa" sung by Rajesh Krishnan and Sunita and lyrics by Jayant Kaikini is about the sun and the morning mood he creates. The tune reminds me of "Happy Birthday to you" tune!

#73 Shantinivasa - Kichcha's Next movie Audio

The songs from #73 Shantinivasa are good to hear espicially for their classical content. Lyrics for all the songs is by K Kalyan. Music by Bharadwaj is different and pleasant.

Geeya Geeya Tirugu Bhoomi sung by SPB is a good one for its lyrics and the geeya geeya gaageeya geeya interludes in between.

Preetiyendare Heegeene sung by Rajesh is a slow song with a lot of classical touch expressing the effects of love.

Thayatta Thayatta sung by Rajesh and Kalyani again with classical tune and modern instruments is a nice one to hear. Its a song about love and various feelings goin on in mind when one is in love.

Aadaddella Olledaytu sung by Rajesh, L N Shastri, Master Hirannayya, Nandita, Archana Udupa and Arun Sagar. The tune is a lift from the hindi version 'Bhor Aayi Gaya Andhiyaara'.

Hrudaya Hrudaya sung by Srinivas is a pacy number. A bit boring number compared to others.

Preetiyendare Heegene sung by Bharadwaj is different to hear in this version sung by the music director himself.

Tirugu Bhoomi (remix) is a nice number to hear with the beats and extra effects.

Ondu Olle Katheya Heluve sung by Shivrajkumar and Sudeep himself is the introduction song of the movie which probably is played with the titles in the movie where the house and its occupants are introduced. Sudeep's dialogues and Shivrajkumar's voice are nice to hear.

Banda Nodu sung by Bharadwaj is a jingle telling about the works done by the servant (Sudeep).

Good album to listen!

Soundarya - Good Effort

Soundarya - Beyond .. Beyond.. your Imagination

Felt the tag line of the movie was somewhat queer when I saw it initially. Was wondering what the movie would be about. Since it is a movie starring Ramesh I felt it would be worth watching. The lyrics and music by Hamsalekha were quite interesting and enough to pull me to the theatre.

The movie starts off with a sneak peak into the land mafia which has spread its roots into the ever growing demand of land in this City of IT and BT that is Bangalore.[There are umpteen references to the city this way in the movie that it irritated me a bit :-) ] The events depict the hold of land mafia and influential people who make their business easy by using muscle and money power. These chain of events create an impact on the viewer and makes him aware of the fact that we are living amidst such circumstances even though we feel safe and seem to enjoy our life in our own way. Despite being far from these, how a commoner can get caught in these events and suffer forms the real matter of the story.

Ramesh(Ramesh) owner of a chemical company is a happily married man lives in Bangalore with his wife Soundarya(Sakshi Shivanand) and daughter(Baby Shreya). He gets into the matter of land mafia just because of a silly reason and has to listen obscene remarks and comments about his wife from one of the mafia lords, John. He gets enraged by this and decides to kill the person, poisons the person and dumps his body in a park. But later he starts feeling guilty about this sin after he starts getting anonymous calls to confess his crime. Meanwhile the investigation of the murder of the mafia lord is handed over to Prakash (Rahul Dev), Ramesh's best friend, who comes down to Bangalore and stays with Ramesh during the case investigation and keeps him updated about the turn of events. Guilt makes a major impact on Ramesh's mind and he decides to confess his crime to Prakash and he writes a letter to him telling all about the murder. But the letter is read by Soundarya and she in her efforts to save her husband writes a letter confessing that she killed the mafia lord. What does Prakash do? Does he take Soundarya into custody or is it Ramesh who is held responsible is the later part of the story.

A very good effort by the director E Chennagangappa who himself is said to have been in the real estate business in Bangalore. He has put reality into the events depicting the land grabbing incidents by means of false document creation, extortion, murder etc., just to be in the business. But he bores us towards the end of the movie with some unnecessary sequences and a dragging song in the sequence leading to the climax.

Ramesh is brilliant in the role and does his job very decently. But he seems somewhat uncomfortable dancing to the slow songs. He again proves that he is one of the very few talented actors who can handle all kinds of emotions well. Sakshi Shivanand irritates a bit with her mannerisms which are too much at times. Rahul Dev is good in the role of the CBI officer but the dubbing artist for him plays spoil sport. The voice doesnt suit his personality. Same is the case with Sakshi Shivanand. Baby Shreya adds life to her role with her innocent looks. An interesting cameo as a spiritual leader by Avinash puts us on the edge of the seat but ends up as a damp squib when his real identity is revealed. Shivakumar as John has done a good job. Lohitashwa is wasted in a bit role.

Songs with lyrics and music by Hamsalekha are great to hear. Hrudayada Maatu is nice song sung by Kunal Ganjawala but he needs Kannada pronounciation lessons badly. Soundarya the title song is good to hear, to which Sonu Nigam lends his voice. Alli Nodu Alli Nodu is a good number but shot unnecessarily in foreign locales. Adnan Sami crooning in Sneha Preeti is a good song but wrongly placed. I question at this point - why we should go for non-Kannada singers when we have ample playback singing talent here in Kannada itself.

Overall its an interesting movie with a crooked ending(atleast for a Kannada movie) - Worth watching once for a different story line and good performance by Ramesh. What needs to be seen is how will Kannada movie goers accept this movie with an unconventional ending. The ending is a bit Hollywoodish.... that might be the reason why the tag line is "Beyond.. Beyond .. Your Imagination" :-)

Classics Revisited Series.

Savinenapugalu Beku Saviyalee Baduku....
How true are these lyrics from a Kannada movie which says memories are required to enjoy the life....

Here I will put forward some memories of some of the classic movies in Kannada and Hindi which I have started to watch. The movies which I have started to watch were the best in their time and genre. So whatever I would write would be like paying tribute all the people who were a part of the movie in any respect. Also it would be like thanking the maestros who gave us such movies the memoirs which we can cherish forever.... Hence I name the series "Classics Revisited....."

Please let me know your views/inputs regarding this.

Will do the writeups during the weekends for any movie which I watch. Please do leave comments about the movie or the writeup or anything which you feel like sharing.....

1. Khamoshi - The Musical (1996)
2. Khel Khel Mein (1975)

[Starting off with these two hindi movies... will add more to the list and also Kannada movies]

Kshana Kshana - Sunil Kumar Desai's Next (Audio)

Kshana Kshana - Thrills... Chills...

Released by Anand Audio.

Every movie of Sunil Kumar Desai is always associated with lots of expectations. Even this movie has built up a lot in the minds of his fans since this is supposed to be a thriller after his Marma. This movie stars Aditya, Dr. Vishnuvardhan and Prema! Music is by R P Patnayak. The album has 6 songs.

The album starts with "I Love you I Love you" sung beautifully by Rajesh Krishnan and Shreya Ghoshal. Lyricist K Kalyan again lives upto his 'Prema Kavi' status in this song.

"Madhira Madhura" sung by K K and Malgudi Shubha with lyrics by Kaviraj sounds like an item song.

"Kshana Kshana" sung by Usha Uthup is the title track which is very pacy and sounds very haunting. Lyrics by V Nagendraprasad are ok. The orchestration of the song is what is good about this song. The chorus and the different voice of Usha Uthup adds a lot to the mysterious feel of the song. It feels great to hear Usha Uthup in Kannada after a long time. She is known to add her own touch to all the songs she sings and she does that here also which adds a lot to the feel of the song.

"Ondu Kotre Eradu Kodtini" sung by Udit Narayan and Chitra with lyrics by K Kalyan is good to hear and is all about kisses. Udit is good in his singing as usual. But I am wondering who is this Chitra. She doesnt sound like Chitra who sang 'Omkaradi Kande Prema Naadava', 'Tunturu...' etc., This song has the feel of the famous jaanapada song 'Kaadu Kudure Odi Banditta....'

"Love Love" sung by Chaitra and lyrics by Kaviraj is again a pacy number with good beats. Not quite appealing with respect to lyrics.

"Ee Kshana Gharshana" sung by Rajesh Krishnan and Sunita with lyrics written by Kaviraj is about achieving a goal!

Some songs dont sound interesting but might be very situation specific since it is a thriller. We might appreciate the songs when they are woven with the screenplay to add to the suspense and thrills in the movie.

Good album with different music by R P Patnayak.