'Taledanda' review: An overload of information and melodrama

Taledanda

Kannada (Theatres)

Director: Praveen Krupakar

Cast: Sanchari Vijay, Mangala N, B Suresha, Mandya Ramesh

Rating: 2.5/5

What an amazing story”, says a psychiatrist after listening to Kunne Gowda (Sanchari Vijay). Fondly called Kunna, he is a man from the Soliga tribe with multiple disabilities. The problem with ‘Taledanda’ (Beheading) is it never tries to be the amazing story that people in the film keep referring to. Instead, it’s just another talky film on nature conservation.

Kunna suffers from moderate mental retardation. He is epileptic and also shows signs of being schizophrenic. Hailing from Dasahalli, he hits the headlines when he attacks officers who come to cut trees to make roads.

‘Taledanda’ desperately wants to be a revolutionary story of a man who was ready to give his life to save trees. Films on nature need solid chemistry between the characters and the backdrop. But director Praveen Krupakar overlooks the power of the landscape and focuses on relationships. You expect such preference to low-hanging fruits in a film pretending to be ambitious.

Instead of emphasising on Kunna’s love for nature, ‘Taledanda’ wastes the screenplay on his bond with his father (Ramesh Pandit) and mother (Mangala N) and his only friend Sakki (Chaithra Achar). You see less genuine drama and more melodrama throughout this myopic approach to filmmaking.

The plot points aren’t extracted with impressive storytelling as all you get is overemotional dialogues that are accompanied by an exaggerated background score. The film also has a dull character in a professor (B Suresha) from Mysore University who gives us information on the benefits of trees. The over-reliance on songs shows the ineptness of the directors to script a solid narrative.

Mangala is fantastic as she elevates an utterly generic character while the late Sanchari Vijay, who stammers and has protruding teeth, has done a commendable job with his dubbing. Veteran cinematographer Ashok Kashyap tries hard to save a film that undervalues storytelling and like most Kannada films, believes in giving a ‘message’.