My Kannada article on Sneha Saptami

Please click here to read the article on thatskannada.com http://thatskannada.oneindia.in/nri/article/2010/0225-sneha-saptami-kknc-north-california.html

A friendly atmosphere at Sneha Sapthami

KKNC 2010 - Sneha Sapthami program on Feb 20.

The bay area is home to 5000 Kannadigas (5K-K) according to one estimate. Kannada Koota of Northern California (KKNC) formed in 1972 has been doing a wonderful job in providing a forum for the community to stay in touch with their culture, language and traditions. Continuing that agenda the 2010 committee made a very good start with the program Sneha Saptami. (Photo: Gowthami Nagaraja).

Having Sneha (friendship) as the objective of this event was a very good idea. In all aspects of the program there was a well planned effort to maintain a friendly and family spirit and it was highly successful. It started right at the doors where smiling committee members. welcomed the arriving attendees. Inside the auditorium one could see people smiling and talking to friends while enjoying the entertainment on the stage. It was like a family event . The hospitality committee did a good job mixing and talking cordially to the with the attendees. The only thing missing was the traditional mantra heard during marriage celebrations "tumba taDa AghOytu. nidhannake OOTA maadi".

This committee with Raghu Halur as President appears highly enthusiastic and motivated. They had a well planned agenda and had come up with creative ideas to engage the audience. The team exhibited cordiality and enthusiasm which rubbed off on the attendees too. (Below: Crowd of more than 1000. Photo: Yogi Subbaiah)It is a good forum for talented members to display their talents under the gaze of a supportive audience. More importantly for women, it is a great occasion to display their grand sarees and latest acquisition in jewelery department. It appeared that some of them could not decide which jewelry to wear and so played it safe by wearing their entire inventory from their safe deposit boxes. This burden explains why they could not reign in their kids . It was left to the men folk to take care of the kids while at the same discussing economy and world peace. Reminds me of a hanigavana by famous Kannada poet Dundiraj.

shopping mugisi manege baruvaaga
hendathiya mukhadalli santrupti, nagu,
ade gandana kaiyalli -
byaagu magu

(Elegent Front Decoration: Photo by Yogi Subbaiah)
The program line up was short by previous standards but I did not feel that I missed any thing compared to previous programs. KKNC programs have developed a bad habit of going on for long hours causing the audience to leave half way through the programs. Those who stay back feel exhausted by the time they reach their homes close to midnight. This committee had promised to start and end the program on time and lived up to it.


The program was started off with wonderful music by Padmaja Kishore's students. Anitha and her troupe performed a spirited dance to the tune of 'cheluvayya cheluvo'. 'Kaalinga mardana' dance by students of Reema Kashyap was nicely done. (Right: Photo by Yogi Subbaiah) Kiran Mohan and team put up a hilarious program called Mad Ads which reminded me of my college days. This program was noteworthy because it displayed a freshness which is very welcome. Their string of short sketches were well created and well acted. This program was funny and spoofed many current events. I am sure we can expect many more innovative and novel performances from this team. Padma Rao and team's 'Mysooru mallige' was a tribute to the late Dr. C Aswath. They sang K.S Narasimhaswamy's poems really well and had small enactments in between. The stage setting was nicely done too. (Photo below:Scene from Mysooru Mallige: by Yogi Subbiah) . The last program was 'Saamarasyke ondu Salahe' by the drama veteran Alamelu Iyengar. It was hilarious with barbs on the behaviour of men, women and the confused NRI parents. Apart from being funny Alamelu delivered a very thoughtful analysis of the relationship between children and their NRI parents. This program was very well received by the audience which rolled in laughter at the way the drama laid bare their own foibles. It is a good sign that people are wiling to laugh at themselves. The anchors Satheesh Heddese and Kavya Kurbur did a good job in providing transitions between programs. There was an elegant artistic display in the front.

In the spirit of the Silicon Valley Inc.'s corporate mantra, there is always scope for improvement. Here are some. Speeches should be kept short. It would have been more effective if the talking between programs was a little bit shorter . The food was not up to the mark. The Biryani was dry and the sabji spicy. The fact that my 3 year old daughter emptied her water bottle into my food tray did not solve either of these problems. I understand it is a bit hard to come up with a universally appealing menu. It is not for nothing that they say "oota tanna icche, nota parara icche'. (taste is personal)

I liked the theme of Sneha (friendship). The audience picked up on this queue and indulged in a whole lot of friending. (The new addition to the English lexicon, thanks to Facebook). I myself had very pleasant conversations with my college mates, old and new friends. It was a great sight to see the members sitting on the floor eating food and chatting and laughing.

The audience appreciated the motto of this team - 'every one should go ba ck from the function feeling they had a friendly experience'. The team led by Raghu achieved this objective. They deserve a pat on the back. I am sure KKNC will continue to flourish under this team.

Review: MaLeyali Jotheyali

Title: MaLeyali Jotheyali (Kannada 2009)
Starring: Ganesh, Anjana Sukhani, Yuvika Chaudary, Rangayana Raghu, Dattanna, Sihikahi Chandru, Sihikahi Geetha, Sharan
Directed by: Preetham Gubbi
Music: Hari Krishna
Photography: Krishna

Verdict: Enjoyable and worth watching.

Now-a-days there are lots of Kannada movies being screened here in California bay area. As frequently as once a month we get the opportunity to watch a movie which has been certified as a 'recent hit' by Kannada audience in India. Some times the movies are so mediocre that they leave the bay area audience wondering how such a movie could be a hit. Many times these movies 'running to packed houses in Karnataka' not only lack in quality but they also peddle shocking levels of crass and tasteless entertainment. So it is hard to have an expectation of a movie watching experience. My simplified yardstick is 'if it is a Kannada movie, just go and watch it'. And it is always fun to watch a movie with a crowd.

Theatre Atmosphere
So on Saturday Feb 6th, I was at Serra theatres in Milpitas for the 6 PM show. I stood in a long line to but tickets and I went into the theatre. I was in disbelief as I saw a noisy and excited crowd of about 150 eagerly waiting for the movie to start. That was in itself a thrilling sight. And when the Golden hero Ganesh made his entrance, there was whistling and screaming. I was pleasantly surprised at Ganesh's stardom in this part of the world.

Plot (does not reveal the whole story)
The movie's protagonist is Preetam (Ganesh) who has passed his PUC (12th) exams in his 7th attempt. He is a road-romeo who proposes to any young girl he finds attractive. His box of tricks to charm the girls include flattering the girls with extremely over-the-top poetic phrases. He gets into form especially when it starts raining. His rich but good natured simpleton dad (Rangayana Raghu) wants to get him married in the traditional arranged way. So Ganesh's friend Venkatesh (Sharan) hatches a plan where they convince the dad that Ganesh should go and meet Venkatesh's military uncle Tamayya (Dattanna) and marry the uncle's (fictitious) daughter. Tammayya lives in the hilly Sakaleshpura. Ganesh arrives there to meet 2 love interests - Sandhya and Anjali. Sandhya (Anjana Sukhani)is the modern aggressive female whereas Anjali (Yuvika Chaudary) is the traditional demure heroine. The story revolves around this love triangle in a filmy but good natured way.

Analysis
The director Preetam Gubbi has treated the story line in a mature way and has attempted to keep it lively and handles the emotional scenes with good restraint. He has avoided overt sentimentality and avoids syrupy dialogues and situations. But the movie does occasionally slide into formulaic dialogues and situations not wanting to let go of the tried and trusted tricks to win the audience. For instance the irritating and over-talkative hero who tries to woo the girls with his goofiness.(I find it hard to believe that women keep finding this attractive). Then there is over-cute child who talks beyond her age. But in spite of making these objections I find the director ends up on the positive side.

Performance
The movie has a lot of attractions. The lush mountains, homes and life of the Malnad area in and around Sakaleshpur have been captured beautifully. Background music by Hari Krishna is very good and there are some melodious songs by Sonu Nigam, Tipu, Shreya Goshal and Ganesh himself. It was funny that Hari Krishna has used an All India Radio tune during sombre emotions.

Ganesh reiterates that he has very good talent for histrionics and that his star value is dependable. Rangayana Raghu devours the role of the goofy dad. Yuvika (Anjali) has a freshness about her looks, smile and acting that she has a good future. Anjana who plays Sandhya looked like an unlikely choice for a heroine but she uses the opportunity to show her acting ability. The two heroines and Ganesh bring a lot of charm to the movie. But I am still peeved that the have bring heroines from outside.

This movie is definitely worth watching and provides good entertainment in spite of hanging on to some boring cliches.

Score: 7 out of 10