'Harikathe Alla Girikathe' review: This satire has few laughs

Harikathe Alla Girikathe

Kannada (Theatres)

Directors: Karan Ananth, Anirudh Mahesh

Cast: Honnavalli Krishna, Rishab Shetty, Pramod Shetty, Rachana Inder,

Rating: 3/5

It was nice to see Honnavalli Krishna's name come first in the credits of 'Harikathe Alla Girikathe'. The film has popular names like Rishab and Pramod Shetty but it treats the senior actor with dignity with a solid character and he steals the show with a moving performance.

Krishna plays himself, a seasoned supporting actor in Kannada cinema who lives with a tinge of sadness of not realising bigger dreams. He effortlessly slips into the role of a father who snaps at his son Giri for having 'unrealistic' dreams of becoming a filmmaker but deep down his heart, he wants to watch him to complete his 'dream' project.

As Giri struggles to find a producer for his film, it's Rishab's performance -- his trademark goofiness -- that somehow salvages the predictable and outdated plot shifts. 'Harikathe Alla Girikathe' turns fun and interesting when Giri meets 'Villain' Giri and 'Heroine' Girija as the trio has the same goal -- to make it big in cinema. The team of three gets expanded with more quirky people.

With the help of creative oneliners and fine performances, the film becomes a well-attempted satirical comedy. It has portions of situational humour that makes you laugh. Where it fails to hit the bulls eye is in its big moments, which fall flat due to lack of freshness in writing.

'Harikathe Alla Girikathe' is an ode to the strugglers in cinema. It shows the plight of outsiders who try to break into the big, bad world of the film industry. It bats for artistes who are either stuck on the margins or not in the limelight, like the under-paid crew members or the stereotyped character artistes.

Giri's character should have had strong layers as he fails to strike an emotional chord with us. Despite Rishab's sincere performance, we can't completely connect to Giri's seriousness for films. There are Shankar Nag posters in his room but that apart, there is nothing substantial from Giri's growing up days that explains his love for movies.

The climax is underwhelming. It was refreshing to see the film not take itself seriously till the final act. However, 'Harikathe Alla Girikathe' aims to end on a emotional, dramatic high and the tonal shift is more jarring than convincing.