JOIN USHayavadana (played by Jaggesh) is a 40-year-old bachelor, “still a virgin” restaurateur who loves kids. He supplies food to a children’s orphanage. He wants to get married to have children, but marriage evades him.
Add to the mix a local politician who wants to shine at the cost of petty “good work” who turns out to be a villain (played by Achyuth Kumar) — you have the movie ‘Raghavendra Stores’. Spoilers ahead — read at your own risk.
Santhosh Ananddram’s directorial venture after the successful ‘Yuvarathna’, the movie Hombale Films produced follows a predictable path. Jaggesh is a “single Sundara (bachelor beauty)” who wants to lose his virginity and keeps ogling every woman he sees.
Demands for a bride include a “cultured” woman who “respects his profession” and knows how to cook. Horoscopes should match, and she should be mentally sound. Unmarried women are compared to “empty sites” while women looking for second marriage are seen as “constructed property”.
We see the climax coming from miles away in this very predictable movie. Take for example the hurdles faced by Hayavadana for consummating the marriage — projected as “mission impossible”. Astrology is the first hurdle, and we know that periods will be next.
Most of the so-called comedy revolves around sex and the first night. The maker has tried a bit of slapstick comedy with a dysarthric person. We are supposed to laugh at the crude sign language used to create humour of the cheapest kind.
The political situations and the related comedy offer much-needed relief in the otherwise boring movie that tries hard to hold a moral high ground. However, adoption is misleadingly shown as a process that needs no government involvement.
In between, the movie tries to highlight the ill effects of late marriages, the major being thyroid and infertility. It slyly and regressively judges those who marry late indicating that they can’t make babies, in an era where same-sex marriages are trying to gain legal validity.
The movie also preaches about who to vote for — totally unconnected to the movie. Shwetha Srivatsav known for her role in ‘Kiragoorina Gayyaligalu’ does not have much scope here.
Liking a comedy is subjective and based on personal sensibilities. If movies featuring stereotyped characters devoid of grey shades, filled with traditional “satire” and daddy sentiments that offer nothing fresh are your comfort zone, go for it.