There is a dialogue in the film, "Criminals are not born, they are created by circumstances."
That is the basic premise of the story, which has been penned pretty immaculately for commercial cinema, by Sandalwood's very own Upendra. Also directed by the writer himself, with a Midas' touch back then, Upendra certainly knew the pulse (and the audiences) of that era. He deserved every bit of the fame and adulation that followed following this, A and Upendra. In fact, I'm sure like me, many out there might be wondering where that touch was lost, since then, as it's certainly missed today.
At a time when rowdyism was at its peak, back in the nineties, the story is hard-hitting. I was wondering how nice it would have been to have a Hindi remake, as the subject is universal - luvvu.
Real-time dons and rowdy sheeters - Bekkinakannu Rajendra, Korangu Krishna, Tanveer Ahmad and Jedarahalli Krishna - play themselves in effective cameos, giving life to the story. The Oil Raja character is possibly named after the real-time don Oil Kumar.
The music by Hamsalekha is decent, with two beautiful numbers sung by Annavaru - Dr Rajkumar - O Gulabiye and Ae Dinakara. The lyrics (also by Hamsalekha) of these two songs are also worthwhile and meaningful.
Prema stands tall, not just literally, but is possibly the best performer, consistent throughout the film. Mind you, this was just her second outing; yet so natural. In fact, she was so convincing that the audiences sure were rooting for her blood when she traumatizes Shivanna in the movie.
Shiva Rajkumar as Satya Shastri has done a very good job. You feel for his character when he is provoked into rowdyism from a Brahmin righteous gentleman, by his love Madhuri. The cat-and-mouse game between the lead-pair is visualised effectively.
Upendra's writing deals with one-sided love pretty convincingly. Even the songs are placed well into the frames, and situational.
The combination of the two Kannada film-stars - Upendra and Shivanna (as he is fondly referred to) - seems to have the potential to do much more for Kannada cinema. This combination of one star directing another is like Vijay directing Ajith 'Thala' Kumar in Tamil cinema, or Hrithik Roshan directing one of the three big Khans in Bollywood.
The film's protagonist shares his name (Satya) with Ram Gopal Varma's Hindi film (and character) of the same name, which was also a runaway hit in the late nineties.
It has it's funny moments, like when Satya uses a razor blade - a pretty apt weapon, along with the macchu or longu, chains, knives, grenades, and revolvers - to slice an apple.
Barring the ending, which seemed pretty filmy, the movie sure is one of the most hard-hitting Kannada movies of all time. It was heartening to see a full-house for the first-show as I was coming out of the matinee, which itself was almost packed. That too, considering that this is a zillionth (551st if I am right) re-release of the film, which first released in 1995, it's wonderful seeing that the audiences still back it, with utmost enthusiasm.
Drum roll!
The next film that this makes me wanna watch is Aa Dinagalu, another supposedly brilliant Kannada movie on the underworld.
That is the basic premise of the story, which has been penned pretty immaculately for commercial cinema, by Sandalwood's very own Upendra. Also directed by the writer himself, with a Midas' touch back then, Upendra certainly knew the pulse (and the audiences) of that era. He deserved every bit of the fame and adulation that followed following this, A and Upendra. In fact, I'm sure like me, many out there might be wondering where that touch was lost, since then, as it's certainly missed today.
At a time when rowdyism was at its peak, back in the nineties, the story is hard-hitting. I was wondering how nice it would have been to have a Hindi remake, as the subject is universal - luvvu.
Real-time dons and rowdy sheeters - Bekkinakannu Rajendra, Korangu Krishna, Tanveer Ahmad and Jedarahalli Krishna - play themselves in effective cameos, giving life to the story. The Oil Raja character is possibly named after the real-time don Oil Kumar.
The music by Hamsalekha is decent, with two beautiful numbers sung by Annavaru - Dr Rajkumar - O Gulabiye and Ae Dinakara. The lyrics (also by Hamsalekha) of these two songs are also worthwhile and meaningful.
Prema stands tall, not just literally, but is possibly the best performer, consistent throughout the film. Mind you, this was just her second outing; yet so natural. In fact, she was so convincing that the audiences sure were rooting for her blood when she traumatizes Shivanna in the movie.
Shiva Rajkumar as Satya Shastri has done a very good job. You feel for his character when he is provoked into rowdyism from a Brahmin righteous gentleman, by his love Madhuri. The cat-and-mouse game between the lead-pair is visualised effectively.
Upendra's writing deals with one-sided love pretty convincingly. Even the songs are placed well into the frames, and situational.
The combination of the two Kannada film-stars - Upendra and Shivanna (as he is fondly referred to) - seems to have the potential to do much more for Kannada cinema. This combination of one star directing another is like Vijay directing Ajith 'Thala' Kumar in Tamil cinema, or Hrithik Roshan directing one of the three big Khans in Bollywood.
The film's protagonist shares his name (Satya) with Ram Gopal Varma's Hindi film (and character) of the same name, which was also a runaway hit in the late nineties.
It has it's funny moments, like when Satya uses a razor blade - a pretty apt weapon, along with the macchu or longu, chains, knives, grenades, and revolvers - to slice an apple.
Barring the ending, which seemed pretty filmy, the movie sure is one of the most hard-hitting Kannada movies of all time. It was heartening to see a full-house for the first-show as I was coming out of the matinee, which itself was almost packed. That too, considering that this is a zillionth (551st if I am right) re-release of the film, which first released in 1995, it's wonderful seeing that the audiences still back it, with utmost enthusiasm.
Drum roll!
The next film that this makes me wanna watch is Aa Dinagalu, another supposedly brilliant Kannada movie on the underworld.
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