01 September 2007

Mathad Mathad Mallige


I had discussed with Arun Bhat about watching a Kannada movie together a few weeks back. On Tuesday(28th August) Arun pinged me asking ....

arunchs: seen Mathad Mathad Mallige?
me: no
heard that it's good
arunchs: ok..
me: what abt u ?
arunchs: neither have i.. thinking of seeing
wanna go tomorrow or day after?


The deal was done, we decided to see the movie at PVR. The next task was to book the tickets. I contacted Gururaj Naik immediately on gtalk for booking the tickets, he promptly agreed. Next day in office I saw my colleague Rollei booking tickets thru ICICI platinum card (1+1 offer). I immediately messaged to Guru that he need not book tickets, thought of booking tickets using Rollei’s card. But as per online booking rules one has to produce the credit card while claiming the tickets. Therefore I ended up booking tickets with my Citibank gold card paying full amount :). Also, by the time Guru saw my message he had already booked the tickets, double booking !!!. Ultimately, he ended up seeing the movie with Naveen Sajjan as he couldn't cancel the tickets.

image courtesy: viggy


Mathad Mathad Mallige is the latest directorial of venture of Dr. Nagathahalli Chandrashekar[NHC], who made excellent movies such as America America, Amrithadhare previously. The movie is about a village Jenukoppa and it's protector Hoovaiah[Vishuvardhan]. The main revenue for the village is floral cultivation. The village soil is very rich in minerals, as a result very rare kind of flowers can be cultivated on it.

*** Spoiler Warning ***

Life will be going on as usual, and then a MNC company 'USD' discovers thru remote sensing that mining in the region around Jenukoppa can fetch them millions of dollars. The company tries morally questionable means i.e. bribing ministers with Vitamin-M(money) to start mining. The government orders villagers to move some other place. Hoovaiah objects the order, saying that mining is illegal and would the villagers will lose their livelihood. The villagers will be in catch-22 situation whether to go for the government compensation or to support Hoovaiah.

Hoovaiah faces setbacks. His two dearest daughters end up marrying against his wish. This incidence makes some villagers lose trust in him. His critics try to take advantage of the situation, but are not successful initially. The authorities manage to start mining by unmoral means by attacking the village in absence of Hoovaiah, when he was in the city discussing issues with the MNC and the ministers.

The policing firing result in death of Hoovaiah's wife[Suhasini] wife also. His elder daughter (10th fail one) joins a Naxalite group led by Sudeep. The naxalites assain the minister, corrupt panchayat leaders. The persistence of Hoovaiah rules. He files petition in Supreme Court with a help of a lawyer(played by NHC himself) and starts hunger strike. His voice reaches all over the country, thanks to coverage of TV9. The farmers of nearby village come for his support and offer resistance to the attack of police (who were supposed to arrest Hoovaiah, suspecting him as Naxalite). The attempt of police is foiled by farmers.

Finally, Hoovaiah wins the war when Supreme Court orders to stop mining in Jenukoppa. The ending I felt was somewhat abrupt. The policemen were planning to attack Hoovaiah in helicopter and next scene was his lawyer[NHC] landing in JenuKoppa carrying Supreme Court judgement and congratulating Hoovaiah. There is no connection between this scence to previous scence in which police decide to attack Jenukoppa using a helicopter.

The movie reminds us of recent battle against industrialization in Singrur and Nandigram. Nagatahalli Chandrashekar(NHC) has got the important facts right such as Mines and Minerals Act etc. In the movie, the effects of industrialization all over the world in Kenya, Ghana, and Indonesia are mentioned. Hoovaiah mentions that government is doing nothing for farmers, in Vidharbha region a everyday three farmers commit suicide.

Overall the movie is good when viewed from angle conceptualization and storyline. One is treated with decent comedy throughout the movie. Technically movie could have been better. The cinematography and visual effects are not so good. This statement may be harsh, but the Mungaaru Male phenomenon has raised the bar in Kannada film industry, everyone expects other movies to match the benchmarks set by Mungaaru Male.

What others say:
Raveesh : Mathad Mathadu Mallige(Kannada) – Film Review

7 comments:

  1. Oooooooooo.. you have revealed too much! I would suggest just to tell about the plot, not the complete story.

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  2. First half of this movie moved me very much . Although I m not a fan of Dr. Vishnu I loved his acting in this movie.Almost all the shooting is done in my native area.So thats one of the main reasons I liked movie.Second half also was also good , but not as good as first half. Climax was so simple ,nothing dramatic as I expected. I was rating 5 stars for first half , but I m ending with 4 stars for movie after seeing climax.

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  3. Quite Comprehensive blog, will definitely try to watch it

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  4. Gururaj, which place is that?

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  5. Movie is shot on the banks of River Aghanashini.Its one of the major rivers of North Canara. Its also shot in Kumta and nearby places.Irland shown in the movie is in aghanashini river . Place name is Igal koorve. Its also shot in place called Hegade near Mirjan (this is on NH-17).Temple in the movie from Hegade itself.
    Movie also shot near Tirthahalli near shimoga. I dont know abt that place much.

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  6. Thanks Gururaj. Shande was speculating it could be Sharavathi near Honnavara, but I said all rivers look the same in karavali. If I recall correctly Aghanashini merges into the sea North of Kumta?

    I am surprised that Nagathihalli did not intend to use the accents, behaviour and cultures of the people of Karavali. Infact Vishnu's costumes probably do not match to any place in Karnataka though might have a slight resemblance to North Karnataka. The language, geography, costumes are all totally mixed up and feels like an identity crisis for the characters in the movie - something that a writer would usually have taken care of..

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  7. Yes Arun . You are right .Dress,accent didnt even match 1% of that of people who stay in that area. Only match was showing some Halakki Tribal people in a song. But in that area I have never seen them.They stay near Ankola. Main reason for not using accent of that area is South karnataka people cannot catch the accent of those people.You can never find house where vishnu stayed in that area.It looked like house from south canara. But leaving that point aside we can think that Nagathihalli was trying to model a ideal karnataka village with mix of all rural culture.

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