JOIN USBettanagere
Kannada (U/A)¬¬
Cast: Sumanth Shailender, Akshay Arjun, Vinod Kambli, Naina, Avinash, Shashikumar, Jai Jagadeesh, Padmavasanthi, Shobha
Director: Mohan Gowda Bettanagere
Sandalwood’s rumination with the seedy underbelly of rowdies and rowdyism continues unabated. This week, the subject returns in the form of Bettanagere.
The sordid saga of bloodshed and brutal murders, bitter rivalries and revenge, seeks to reiterate that it is circumstances than choice that conspire to make rowdies of men who, otherwise, want to make an honest living.
A fictionalised biopic of the real life Bettanagere brothers (Seena and Shankara), the film, through flashback, shows how Shiva, in brick business, and Shekar, an aspiring army man, are unwittingly driven to rowdyism.
As ever, with rowdies at helm, machu and langu, the proverbial weapons of mass human massacre, make their appearance much to the chagrin of audience.
As goes the film’s tagline – The ruthless, raw story, director Mohan gloriously depicts the happenings on in gory detail as experienced by the family, in real life. How, a once happy, loving family is driven to doom and destruction when brother Shekar takes offence to the ill-treatment of a local MLA is how it begins.
From then on, with local chairman playing petty, vituperative politics with brothers, and egged on by fencers like Reddy, pal Mohit et al, how Shiva and Shekar turn to wanton ways, and from bosom brothers full of bonhomie, into feuding foes, forms the fulcrum of Bettanagere.
The only point of interest is how Mohan has filmed the family’s life story, as also the presence of former cricketer Vinod Kambli who plays Junglee in the film.
The film has nothing going either on acting or other technicalities front. While songs are easy on ears, stunts and fights are stylishly choreographed to provide the necessary panache.
Bettanagere makes for curious watch both for the audience and those of Nelamangala, North Bengaluru, where Bettanagere is, who were witness to the seedy saga in their area.