Meera Madhava Raghava - A Review
Thilak, Diganth and Ramya!I have been full of praises for T. N. Seetharam sir. T. N. Seetharam or Gouribidanur Seetharam is a proven director, a prominent law professional and a writer. He is also considered by many as someone who could get close to the maestro himself, the legendary Puttanna kanagal, when it comes to the much needed articulation and creativity in direction. T.N.S., as he is popularly recognized by all, has always been counted amongst the most intelligent breed of directors in the industry. He has directed some of the most wonderful serials in Kannada television industry like Maya Mruga, Manvantara and Mukta (the last one took him to the pinnacle of so-called name and fame!) Who can forget those court scenes in Mukta? It was reported that the TRP ratings of e-tv Kannada, which was telecasting this serial, recorded an all time high during the court scenes in the serial!!
If you concluded that this maestro has restricted himself to the small screen, then you are definitely undermining the potentiality of T.N.S. He has also directed a movie called ‘Matadana’, which elucidates clearly the mindset of a typical desi politician and the intricacies of vote bank politics in India! If you have been an ardent fan of his, and followed him quite closely, you would have discovered by now that, T.N.S., has a special affection towards this alphabet ‘M’! All his ventures have begun with this alphabet ‘M’. So I wasn’t really surprised when I first heard that T.N.S. sir is directing another movie that also begins with the alphabet ‘M’. It was titled ‘Meera Madhava Raghava’.
I was with V in Bengaluru (that’s official folks! Bangalore finally gets the much needed kannda touch to its name) last week, where the movie was being screened at santosh, a theatre near city central. Both of us had screwed up at an interview, an hour back and we badly needed a break! It was nearly 1:30 pm by my watch, on an all-set-to-clean-the-streets-of-Bengaluru kinda day! The clouds were all set to pour in really hard! So we badly need to hangout somewhere. We quickly hurried towards santosh theatre and bought ourselves 2 tickets of balcony. (Hey! They costed us only 50 bucks each!!) We literally galloped all the way to the balcony since we were a bit late to the matinee show. When we checked in to the balcony, the movie had already begun. We had huge expectations from this movie and I was praying “Oh god! T.N.S. sir shouldn’t disappoint me now! Not again please… especially after that screwing interview!!!”
Now coming to the real plot of the movie… It is basically the story of a trio Meera (played by Ramya), Madhava (played by Diganth) and Raghava (played by Thilak). If you were to conclude by the above description that it is just gonna be yet another movie involving a triangular romantic plot that sucks to the core, then you are surely in for a shock. Meera Madhava Raghava is certainly much more than that. Raghava plays the so-called (rich) bad boy in the movie. Madhava plays the supposed to be god boy in the movie. Meera is the one who neutralizes both the acidic entities in the movie. Raghava is basically a local rowdi, who is passionately in love with Meera (but he is shown to be an ethical rowdi! Now don’t ask him how a rowdi can have ethics?) Meera’s family members are forced to fix her marriage with Madhava, a part time lecturer in a college. It is done merely to save her daughter from the hands of Raghava, who promises not to wed their daughter if she has already been engaged to someone else. Meera moves over to her husband’s house after the marriage. Meera, who is gifted with a nightingale’s voice, gets an offer from a Mumbai based audio company to sing for their albums (a 3 year contract, with a remuneration of Rs 40K per month). This naturally catapults happiness amongst the members of her in-laws and all of them quickly share it with a musical cock-tail on screen. But! Yes, it’s these ifs and Buts that provide every movie the much needed twist and turns. Madhava isn’t happy about Meera working at Mumbai, as he wouldn’t be able to handle that ‘dooriee!’ The innocent Meera complies to her husband’s request and turns down the proposal made by the audio company! Madhava in the mean while is shown to have an insurmountable desire to become an IAS officer. But the biggest hurdle being Vitamin – M. He reveals his clandestine desires in front of his wife. She suggests him to borrow the required money from someone. But Madhava justifies his anti-money-borrowing theory and also asks his wife not borrow money from anyone in life.
In the mean while, Meera’s father expires and Meera plans to claim her share by selling the house her parents lived. Her share in the assets would nearly be around Rs 10 lakhs. With these ideas in mind, Meera manages to persuade Madhava to chase his dream of becoming an IAS officer. She promises to give him the required amount of Rs. 10 lakhs, from her share in the family assets. With the assurance of financial support from his wife, Madhava moves to Delhi, where he clears an entrance test of a coaching institution which trains students to pursue IAS. But to her great dismay, Meera is highly disappointed and heart broken when her family members express their inability to give her share of money in the assets immediately, on accounts of other financial commitments. She finds herself in an absolute fix, as she has reached the point of no return. If she fails to send her husband the required money, he might have to let go a golden chance of pursuing his dream, begging. Here arrives the first biggest twist in her life time. Under circumstances which seem to be highly unfavorable, she is forced to borrow the required amount from the BAD BOY, Raghava himself. He finances the required amount, after asking her to forge on a document which says that her husband has borrowed the amount to pursue an IAS. She forges the signature of her husband reluctantly! The rest of the movie is all about how she is tortured by Raghava and how she is made to do things that would favor the Bad Boy!
The last 45 minutes in the movie are really worth every penny you invested! T.N.S. sir shows you why he is considered as the next Puttanna kanagal of Kannada Industry! The story really pushes you to the edge of your seats. It brings out all shades of emotions like intense suspense, love, betrayal etc on screen. Climax is surely the one thing that would linger in your mind for a quite long time!! You will surely walk out of the cinema hall questioning yourself, “Heegu unte?” The movie is also marked by its unconventional star cast. They all have acted in Seetharam sir’s previous TV serials. They have all done justice to their jobs! I personally felt that after Amruthadhaare, this is Ramya’s best performace till date. Thilak as Raghava looks very convincing in the bad boy role! Diganth as Madhava has a very limited scope, as his screen presence is very much limited. The music composed by Hamsalekha is very melodious. The track ‘Vasantha Vasantha…’ (sung by Rajesh Krishnan and Anuradha Bhat) from the movie is my personal favorite.
If you haven’t watched a really good family movie for quite a long time, then Meera Madhava Raghava is certainly the movie you gotta be checking out this week end. You will surely acknowledge the claims made by me in this post about T.N.S. Sir. He is truly a gem of a director!
PS: His next big venture on the 70mm screen is titled Mrs. Mukya Mantri. I wish him great success in his next venture as well! I’m really looking forward to watch his next movie!!
If you concluded that this maestro has restricted himself to the small screen, then you are definitely undermining the potentiality of T.N.S. He has also directed a movie called ‘Matadana’, which elucidates clearly the mindset of a typical desi politician and the intricacies of vote bank politics in India! If you have been an ardent fan of his, and followed him quite closely, you would have discovered by now that, T.N.S., has a special affection towards this alphabet ‘M’! All his ventures have begun with this alphabet ‘M’. So I wasn’t really surprised when I first heard that T.N.S. sir is directing another movie that also begins with the alphabet ‘M’. It was titled ‘Meera Madhava Raghava’.
I was with V in Bengaluru (that’s official folks! Bangalore finally gets the much needed kannda touch to its name) last week, where the movie was being screened at santosh, a theatre near city central. Both of us had screwed up at an interview, an hour back and we badly needed a break! It was nearly 1:30 pm by my watch, on an all-set-to-clean-the-streets-of-Bengaluru kinda day! The clouds were all set to pour in really hard! So we badly need to hangout somewhere. We quickly hurried towards santosh theatre and bought ourselves 2 tickets of balcony. (Hey! They costed us only 50 bucks each!!) We literally galloped all the way to the balcony since we were a bit late to the matinee show. When we checked in to the balcony, the movie had already begun. We had huge expectations from this movie and I was praying “Oh god! T.N.S. sir shouldn’t disappoint me now! Not again please… especially after that screwing interview!!!”
Now coming to the real plot of the movie… It is basically the story of a trio Meera (played by Ramya), Madhava (played by Diganth) and Raghava (played by Thilak). If you were to conclude by the above description that it is just gonna be yet another movie involving a triangular romantic plot that sucks to the core, then you are surely in for a shock. Meera Madhava Raghava is certainly much more than that. Raghava plays the so-called (rich) bad boy in the movie. Madhava plays the supposed to be god boy in the movie. Meera is the one who neutralizes both the acidic entities in the movie. Raghava is basically a local rowdi, who is passionately in love with Meera (but he is shown to be an ethical rowdi! Now don’t ask him how a rowdi can have ethics?) Meera’s family members are forced to fix her marriage with Madhava, a part time lecturer in a college. It is done merely to save her daughter from the hands of Raghava, who promises not to wed their daughter if she has already been engaged to someone else. Meera moves over to her husband’s house after the marriage. Meera, who is gifted with a nightingale’s voice, gets an offer from a Mumbai based audio company to sing for their albums (a 3 year contract, with a remuneration of Rs 40K per month). This naturally catapults happiness amongst the members of her in-laws and all of them quickly share it with a musical cock-tail on screen. But! Yes, it’s these ifs and Buts that provide every movie the much needed twist and turns. Madhava isn’t happy about Meera working at Mumbai, as he wouldn’t be able to handle that ‘dooriee!’ The innocent Meera complies to her husband’s request and turns down the proposal made by the audio company! Madhava in the mean while is shown to have an insurmountable desire to become an IAS officer. But the biggest hurdle being Vitamin – M. He reveals his clandestine desires in front of his wife. She suggests him to borrow the required money from someone. But Madhava justifies his anti-money-borrowing theory and also asks his wife not borrow money from anyone in life.
In the mean while, Meera’s father expires and Meera plans to claim her share by selling the house her parents lived. Her share in the assets would nearly be around Rs 10 lakhs. With these ideas in mind, Meera manages to persuade Madhava to chase his dream of becoming an IAS officer. She promises to give him the required amount of Rs. 10 lakhs, from her share in the family assets. With the assurance of financial support from his wife, Madhava moves to Delhi, where he clears an entrance test of a coaching institution which trains students to pursue IAS. But to her great dismay, Meera is highly disappointed and heart broken when her family members express their inability to give her share of money in the assets immediately, on accounts of other financial commitments. She finds herself in an absolute fix, as she has reached the point of no return. If she fails to send her husband the required money, he might have to let go a golden chance of pursuing his dream, begging. Here arrives the first biggest twist in her life time. Under circumstances which seem to be highly unfavorable, she is forced to borrow the required amount from the BAD BOY, Raghava himself. He finances the required amount, after asking her to forge on a document which says that her husband has borrowed the amount to pursue an IAS. She forges the signature of her husband reluctantly! The rest of the movie is all about how she is tortured by Raghava and how she is made to do things that would favor the Bad Boy!
The last 45 minutes in the movie are really worth every penny you invested! T.N.S. sir shows you why he is considered as the next Puttanna kanagal of Kannada Industry! The story really pushes you to the edge of your seats. It brings out all shades of emotions like intense suspense, love, betrayal etc on screen. Climax is surely the one thing that would linger in your mind for a quite long time!! You will surely walk out of the cinema hall questioning yourself, “Heegu unte?” The movie is also marked by its unconventional star cast. They all have acted in Seetharam sir’s previous TV serials. They have all done justice to their jobs! I personally felt that after Amruthadhaare, this is Ramya’s best performace till date. Thilak as Raghava looks very convincing in the bad boy role! Diganth as Madhava has a very limited scope, as his screen presence is very much limited. The music composed by Hamsalekha is very melodious. The track ‘Vasantha Vasantha…’ (sung by Rajesh Krishnan and Anuradha Bhat) from the movie is my personal favorite.
If you haven’t watched a really good family movie for quite a long time, then Meera Madhava Raghava is certainly the movie you gotta be checking out this week end. You will surely acknowledge the claims made by me in this post about T.N.S. Sir. He is truly a gem of a director!
PS: His next big venture on the 70mm screen is titled Mrs. Mukya Mantri. I wish him great success in his next venture as well! I’m really looking forward to watch his next movie!!
Photo Courtesy: http://www.kannadaaudio.com
~IT's My Life
2 comments:
Happy married life meera madhava
Fans of sahakaranagara banglore
Very nice review, TN Seetharam is a gentle human Director . .
thanks
Aravind
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