My mornings begin listening to melodious Kannada songs on Nammradio, an Internet Radio, these days. NammRadio has wide range of programs throughout the week playing genres, cinema songs, folklore, light music and devotional. The Radio is available in four timezones, India, USA, Gulf and Europe. If its unavailable in your geography, you are free to choose the one you of your choice. NammRadio is available in web browser version, App Store and Google Playstore
I have listened to most of their programs and every program is enjoyable. I hum the songs as I listen and singing the old Kannada songs when you grew up are the most that are close to your heart.
I don't have any single program as a favourite as I admire all the programs and songs being played on this Radio.
The play kicks off with the story tellers who discuss amongst themselves what should they narrate which makes the audience head bow down with shame. Each of the four decide what story and finally agree to narrate the story of Ramayana.
The storyteller narrate why Lakshmana cut Ravana's sister, Surpanakha's nose and how she instigates Ravana to abduct Sita. The ten headed Ravana becomes aggressive to an extent that he abducts Rama's wife Sita. Sita is kidnapped by Ravana, suffers separation from her dear husband, an exile in exile.
A war between the good and the bad begins and Ravana's death marks Rama's victory but Sita undergoes **Agni Pariksha though Ravana never touched her.
**Agni Pariksha - sacrifice in the fire. A ritual followed during old days to test the person truthfulness.
The story takes a twist when Sita's childhood friend Parvati praises Ravana before her. Who is Parvati and why does she appear after ages? Watch this beautiful enacted play.
It's been ages I have watched a Kannada movie at a Cinema hall. Considering the quality of the Kannada movies, my interest was least and always preferred watching Kannada plays and TV serials though my mother tongue is Kannada.
The two movies were released on the same day RangiTaranga and Bahubali across the entire state. Bahubali was my first choice seeing the trailers and moreover it was from the director of the previous hits which scored extremely at the box office: Magadheera and Eega. Bahubali faired well much beyond the audience expectation with the amazing settings and the well-woven screenplay and melodious music.
I watched RangiTaranga a week later, directed by entirely different crew. I wouldn't narrate the story here as I want you to watch the movie at a Cinema Hall and don't wish to be a spoil sport. The movie has lot of twists and twirls and you would cling on to the seat with your heart in your mouth until the truth is revealed. As the story continues, it leads to confusion but well connected and unfolds the hidden facts clearing the confusion. The director maintains the suspense until the end of the movie. The movie stars the newcomers Nirup Bhandari, Avantika Shetty and Radhika Chetan in the lead roles who have enacted well in their respective roles. It would be unfair if I don't mention Sai Kumar who adds spice to the story. The lyrics, music and the story theme go hand in hand. I loved all the songs written in "Achcha" Kannada words by the director, Anup Bhandari.
All in all, a must watch movie to all the Kannada and non-Kannada speakers as it makes you realize that good movies are made in Kannada, too. The audience would highly appreciate the screenplay, cinematography and the choreography.
I attended the screening of Kannada movie, B.E.(Mech), directed by a software engineer, Adarsh H Eshwarappa, at KH Kalasoudha, Hanumanth Nagar, Bangalore, today. The theme of the movie is "Of An Eternal Romance Between A Man & His Dreams..!!" Running length: approximately 180 minutes Cast: Rachana KG, Nanjunda Murthy Rao, Pavithra Venkatesh, Rashmi Shanbogh, Adarsh H Eshwarappa.
Movie Trailer on YouTube
The story is about a young guy, Adi aka Adithya (Adarsh Eshwarappa), who has completed his Diploma and strives day and night to fulfill his dream of becoming an Engineer by obtaining a seat at a reputed college. Having lost his parents during his childhood and survived by his younger sister, the role played by Rashmi Shanbogh, he works as a dance instructor at a studio run by his friend, Loki (Nanjunda Murthy Rao), to make a living. Padma(Pavithra Venkatesh) is Loki's girlfriend and a good friend of Adi.
Adi, who lives alone and is lonely, meets Meera (Rachana), the new joinee at the dance class. Adi is totally mesmerized by Meera and is love stuck. They spend time together even after the dance classes. He totally forgets about his engineering seat. But soon he realizes that it is just a one-way love and deeply hurt and his relationship his two friends fade turn sour.His life takes a twist with the new sufferings. The lead is played by Adarsh with the Rachana, actress in lead. The hero has a close friend, Nanjunda Murthy Rao. I found Adarsh and Nanjunda's dialogue delivery to be very natural and effective. All the actors have maintained a body language though the dialogues were not effective in some scenes. There is continuity and suspense maintained till the end of the story which would impress the audience.
I liked the below song and found it on YouTube.
Coming to the turnover, there was a huge crowd I noticed for the screening.
Audience post screening
Audience post screening
Audience post screening
Main lead, Adarsh to the left, in Black Tee.
Audience posing with the actors (extreme left and left but one)
The movie has been shot mainly in Bangalore and a scene from Denver.
Uttara Bhoopa is a famous book written by BeeChi (Rayasam Bheemasena Rao), a well-known Kannada humorist. I bought this book a couple of years ago but never had a chance to read it. However, I was lucky to see the drama directed by Antaranga at H.N Kalakshetra, Bangalore on 29th Dec 12.
The play starts with a couple's discussion on finding a suitable match for their daughter. The couple think how the to be son in law should be in terms of the maturity, character.. so on and so forth. But their daughter is of different opinion and thinks she can find the man of her choice. The couple and daughter have an argument unlike any other parents or children do. The couple decide to publish an advertisement in the newspaper to find a suitable groom and the expected qualities. They interview the young men who had applied and finally, manage to select the three. Now, the daughter is in difficult position whom to select among the three.
The play is a comedy and you would love every joke. I am yet to read the book and I am sure I can complete reading the book in a day or two. ;)
Does she find the man of her choice or reluctantly marry one among the three chosen by her parents? Find it by yourself seeing the play at the next theatre.
Cost of the ticket - Rs 70/-
Duration of the play - 90 mins
Mysooru Mallige, a popular book by K.S. Narasimha Swamy in the year 1942, which is much popular as a Kannada movie directed by T.S. Nagabharana in the year 1991, which every Kannadiga savours the beautiful songs written by the poet.
BaLegaara(Seller of bangles) Chennaiah visits Naviluru, with bunches of bangles made of glass hung to the shoulders. Naviluru is an imaginary town by the author. As Chennaiah visits Naviluru, he learns that todays women are without the bangles and men wearing earrings, steel bangle and long hair.
He enters the house of the poet, narrates the story to the present generation who are the grand children of the poet. The house where the young couple, the poet and his wife Sitamma lived since they were wed. During each visit, the lady of the house, Sitamma, would get him a pinch of jaggery along with water so that Chennaiah could quench his thirst from a long walk. But the present, great grand daughter gets him a bottle of pepsi which he is taken aback when he requests for water. He denies pepsi and requests for water with a pinch of jaggery.
The play consists of all the songs and has been performed very well by the artists. Directed by Dr B.V. Rajaram and Screenplay by Rajendra Karanth, the baLegaara: narrator of the story.
The poet, being a loyal and a humble man undergoes suffering as a young man of twenties, middle aged man, old man neglected by his children. His wife being a tolerant and patient woman supports him during odd times; scarcity of food, clothing and money!
In a way, the story depicts, if there is no pain, no feeling, you cannot write good poems or songs. The poet who is loyal without urge to mint money invites suffering to himself.
Few songs I hunted on youtube after watching the play.
Balegara Chennaya bagilige bandhihenu
Ondhirulu kanasinali nannavala kelidhenu
Premada Pariya Naanariye Kanakangi
Rayaru bandharu maavana manege
Deepavu ninnade gaaliyu ninnade
Mysooru Mallige, as title suggests, Mysore is famous for Mallige(Jasmine) flower.
On the occasion of Ugadi: Hindu new year celebrated in Karnataka, Ranga Shankara is organizing Ranga Ugadi on March 22nd, Sunday. The events include: Yakshagana, music, stage drama.... The event starts from 10:45am in the morning to 9:30pm in the evening. Entrance ticket for the whole day is Rs 150 and for each event is Rs 50.
Last Sunday, 7th December, I watched the Kannada play Kalavu at Rangashankara .
Direction: Pramod Shiggaon,
Playwright: Dr K Y Narayanaswamy,
Troupe: Rangasampada, Bangalore.
Duration: 120 mins.
In Kannada , kaLavu means stealing. According to myth, stealing is also considered to be a smart profession. The plot of the play is all about stealing. Not everyone can be perfect at stealing without getting caught. Stealing not only refers to stealing valuable stuffs belonging to others, it can be stealing someone's dream, happiness etc... Little Krishna in Mahabharat a was also a great thief who stole butter. In this play, a buffalo is stolen and the villagers are involved in searching the lost animal. Meanwhile, the depth of truth is discovered apart from finding the lost buffalo. The play is well executed and the suspense is maintained till the end.
All of us are thieves in day-to-day life. If we haven't stolen a materialistic stuff we might have stolen something else. Yet, we don't realize that we are thieves. ;)
I’ve been receiving many mails about the schedule of a Hindi play “Bikhre Bimb” by Girish Karnad @ Ranga Shankara, almost every month. I watched this play way back in Nov 2006. Play stars Arundhati Nag alone. It was the first time I got the chance and stepped into the auditorium. I had tried for the tickets twice and was only told that “Tickets sold out” for the previous plays by other productions. This time, luck on my side, bought 8 tickets a couple of days before :)
The play kicks of with Arundhati Nag alone throughout, a lecturer, on a TV interview explaining as about her published book which is a major hit, sold out well and brought her success and fame – an award. When the interview concludes, she is leaving the stage her inner soul yells and thus, the story begins. Her inner soul puts forth the questions and then she reveals the truth about the book being a hit. The story of “her” book had been flipped by her. The actual story was written by her younger unmarried sister who was paralyzed – unable to move and always stayed in her room. Being a lecturer, the lady is back home only at twilight and hadn’t achieved much in life except her husband, a software engineer - who now spends most of his time at home(Work from home), had fallen in love with her, long time ago. As time passes, she turns out to be career oriented. She has been jealous of her younger sibling since her parents had always loved her younger sister than her and more beautiful than her. When her parents die, her sister starts residing at her home, in a small room. Being paralyzed, she confines her world to the room. Her brother-in-law always was in good terms to her. He had never made her feel alone and they would speak several things. One fine evening, when the elder sister comes home after the college, she hears both of them laughing over a joke. As soon as her husband notices her home, he walks out of her room without a word. She feels suspicious that her husband pays more attention to her younger sister - knows her likes, dislikes etc and their marriage is almost broken.
One day, after her death, the elder sister searches her room and finds an interesting story written by her younger sister. The last page had s signature “M. Naik”. Since both their names begin with M, she takes it for granted that no one can ever figure out who the author was! Without her husband’s knowledge, she contacts the publisher and the deal is done. A few documents from the publisher read by him in the kitchen without her knowledge. He stands speechless. Angered over him, she yells that there is nothing wrong in doing so. After that, he leaves to US and had never tried to contact her. She gets the story published under her name which turns out to be a major hit and wins an award. He doesn’t turn up for the award function. This hurts her. The story written by her sister was about the three people: herself, elder sister and sister’s husband. Younger sister describes the elder one to be the cruel one who had always been jealous of her, who never understood her feelings, never tried to be humane.
At the end of the play, the elder sister is guilty and recalls that when her husband saw the documents she should have confessed and stopped him. Now, it’s too late.
I'm a quintessential Bangalorean living in Sydney, Australia. I love photography and blogging that goes very well while I trek or travel. I'm an outdoor person and play tennis and swim whenever I find time. I enjoy reading books during daily commute. I enjoy cooking and prefer spice over sweet. I do love music and blessed to play divine Veena. I'm an amateur flautist.
...I have been blogging since 2005.