JOIN USChella pilli
Kannada (U) ¬¬
Director: Saikrishna Kudla
Cast: Vijayaraghavendra, Aishwarya Nag and others
Kannada film industry has had characters in films speak Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Hindi and English among other languages. It has had non-Kannadigas making films to suit their ends at the cost of local populace quite often. After films like Manasaare, the North Karnataka accent found instant acceptance among audience. So much so that artistes from there are now free to express themselves the way they are familiar and comfortable with and not conform to the standards of homogeneity maintained and nurtured over the years by makers from the predominant Old Mysore region. What was earlier used as a tool to enhance comedy has now become staple food for many filmmakers.
Similar is the case of the dialect or accent in which Kannada is spoken in the coastal areas of the State. For many years, either the accent is used for buffoonery or the person speaking it has stood out like a sore thumb. There have been attempts to “bring” the accent into “mainstream cinema” with far less encouraging results.
Chella pilli (wonder if the makers were emphasising the word’s meaning – scattered — by splitting it!), is one such attempt, with Vijayaraghavendra in the lead. The entire duration of the film is sheer torture, scattered as it is with gems like “Bajji, bonda nenapaadaaga... benki aagodu” sending the movie into depths of incomprehensible absurdity! What could have been a fairly decent representation of the story of a young man out of luck who finally gets his girl and his honour restored has been subjected to unmitigated abuse in the guise of letting people of a particular region savour the flavour of the language spoken their way, unmindful of the fact that the rest of the State too should be able to enjoy the same with them. However, full credit is due to the entire ensemble barring Shobhraj — who looks clueless for the most part — for enjoying themselves and entertaining an audience that is in tune with their antics.
Vijayaraghavendra’s passive persona is both strength and weakness, tying him up. Still, the actor makes the best out of the mess. Aishwarya Nag gradually slips into her miniscule role and is left shortchanged. Perhaps, her coming films will do better justice. P L Ravee’s camerawork is obscured by the sometimes loud music. Out of the cacophony, two songs manage to grab attention.
This Chella pilli is sure to leave most of the audience scatter-brained!