Last sunday when R and me got extremely bored of watching the idiot box, we decided to watch a movie instead. Checked online for any good movie but got a heart attack instead seeing the prices. Rs 500 for JTJH ! Seriously !

Thats when i started checking out regional movies and 2 movies caught my attention - Thupaaki (Tamil-Vijay starrer) and Sangolli Rayanna (Kannada- Darshan starrer). Hubby showed complete lack of interest in the tamil movie though it was of his fav hero, we went ahead with the Kannada one. Here is what i thought of the movie -

Sangolli Rayanna - 3.5 hrs - Darshan,Jayapradha,Nikitha Thukral.

The movie is about a freedom fighter by name Sangolli Rayanna who was a commander in chief for Kittur army. The queen Rani Chennamma faces a dilemma in which the British are trying to ursurp her throne due to lack of biological heir. How Rani Chennamma and Rayanna wage the freedon war forms the crux of the story.

To start with - The movie has been shot well. Screenplay is excellent. The producers have selected right locations, used different kind of shots and spent time and energy to take each shot. The war sequences have been executed and shot brilliantly something which is extremely rare in Kannada movies. We have seen this kind of camera work in Mungaru Male after which it created a trend. This movie too will create a seperate path for cinematographers. Special kudos to Ramesh Babu - Cinematographer and producer Anand Appugol.

Direction - This is where the movie falls a bit here and there. The director - Naganna in attempt of creating a demi god status for Darshan, has gone out of his way to give him punch dialogues. You can see Darshan doing a la Sunny Deol in every frame. What happens after some time is - you lose interest because of the constant screaming. The director should understand that messages can be given in a subtle manner too and it is absolutely not neccessary to pump fists in air and stomp feet every 2 minutes.

The detailing and costumes of the movie are excellent and adds richness to the frame. The makers have done homework in terms of language and props used in the movie.

Acting - Darshan has done a very good job and lives upto the image of the late freedom fighter. Jayapradha too meets expectations but a special mention has to go to Umashri for playing Rayanna's mother. She lights up the screen and shows tremendous acting skill. A delight to watch indeed !

A noticeable flaw is where the British were depicted.It is comical to make foreigners speak Kannada. This is perhaps the only sore point because it decreased the movie's impact totally. The director and producers should take a cue from Aamir's - Lagaan where foreigners spoke in English and there was a Hindi translation imposed later.

Other actors include Sashikumar, Ramesh Bhat, Srinivas Murthy, Saurav,Avinash, Doddanna do complete justice to their roles.

Songs - Strictly ok but could have been avoided also especially the one which plays at a crucial point in the climax. This song could have been eliminated totally.

Overall - It is a movie which is def worth watching especially with family and children. What is even more appreciable is Kannada movie makers have finally arrived. Apart from the regular masala stuff, movie makers are finally giving due importance to script and are making off beat cinema. I am totally impressed with this change.

PS - The other thing which caught my attention is the narrative at the start and end of the movie. The director adds trivia - one of it is Sangolli Rayanna was born on 15th Aug, 1798 and died on 26th Jan 1831. Both the days are historic in nature - First was when India gained independence and second when India's constitution came into light. It seems when Rayanna was about to be hanged, he made a declaration that the British will flee India at mid night like cowards and just like he said, they did !

It was this thought which made me think and write this huge post ! A def thumbs up for this movie and highly highly recommended.