Mungaru Male- Monsoon Rain like never before for Kannada Cinema
As the year 2006 gave way to 2007, there emerged a whiff of fresh air spreading the spirit of love. The place was Bangalore (I prefer it over Bengaluru) and the occasion was the release of a reasonably small Kannada movie- Mungaru Male (hereafter referred to as MM) which went on to take the entire Kannada film industry by storm. Initially there was hardly any ripple created and one did not realize the impact of the movie. Going down memory lane, I remember during the 2nd week of its release I had started observing the video’s of the songs & kept listening to the songs on FM radio. That was when during a casual conversation with an industry friend of mine, I commented that “is movie me kuch to zaroor hai, keep your eyes open.” My friend just shrugged away my comment & went on. But a couple of weeks later he was very excited to tell me that my comment had indeed been right, the movie was turning out to be a major success. That’s when I smiled- the smile was that of a dreamer, a passionate film lover and a romantic at heart.
For somebody who lives on a staple diet of movies across genres and across languages, Kannada cinema just did not appeal enough. Yes there had been days in the past when I had seen movies of the late Dr.Rajkumar or Vishnuvardhan (mainly in T.V), but of late there really had not been any great movie worth talking about. An Apthamitra or a Jogi were probably flashes in the pan and nothing else to look forward to apart from the movies of an odd Girish Kasaravalli and his breed of directors. But MM revived the interest in Kannada cinema not just for me but for a whole set of movie audience both Kannadiga and non Kannadiga. People who would otherwise not talk about Kannada movies started talking about the movie, the songs were heard everywhere and everyone associated with the movie began making money.
Genesis of the Movie
So what’s the movie all about? How and why did it get made? Well the director of the movie – Yograj Bhatt was from the ad film industry and had not met with success with his first two movies. This time he had a good script in hand and initially approached Puneet Rajkumar who was not convinced about the script and backed out. That’s when fate proved to be lucky for ‘Comedy Time’ Ganesh and he stepped in as the hero. Ganesh was popular on T.V as the host of a comedy show (Comedy Time) and after doing a minor role in Amruthadhaare (better known for Amitabh Bachchan’s cameo), he had tasted some success with his first solo hero movie, Chellata. Ganesh managed to get E.Krishnappa on board as the producer as he knew him from his earlier days. That’s how the movie finally took off.
Plot Outline
MM is the story of a young man Preetam( Ganesh), who falls in love at first sight with Nandini ( Pooja Gandhi). Preetam then accompanies his mother to Madikeri ( Coorg ) for the wedding of his mother’s best friend’s daughter. Yes the bride to be happens to be Nandini and as expected sparks fly between the two. After initially shying away from Preetam, Nandini too falls in love with him. But Preetam’s mother comes to know the truth and requests him to forfeit his love as the wedding is due in a few days time. So what happens next? Does true love succeed or does love get sacrificed? That’s what the rest of the movie is all about.
Factors that made the movie memorable
While the plot as such does not look very different from a routine romantic flick, there are quite a few elements that work in a big way for MM.
1. The treatment of the subject (story by Preetham Gubbi) is very refreshing especially keeping the general trend of Kannada cinema.
2. The camera work by Krishna is remarkable. In fact most people would be surprised to see the beauty of Coorg or Jog Falls getting captured so well in a Kannada movie.
3. Yograj Bhatt has not just done justice to the script; he manages to keep the viewer engrossed throughout the movie. What’s commendable is also the fact that he manages to extract very good performances from the cast be it the younger set like Ganesh, Pooja Gandhi,Diganth etc or seniors like Anant Nag, Padmaja Rao , Sudha Belwadi etc.
4. Music by Mano Moorthy is exemplary and well supported by the lyrics written by Jayanth Kaikini and Yograj Bhatt. What’s even more remarkable is that the songs are sung by well known singers like Udit Narayan,Sonu Nigam,Kunal Ganjawala, Sunidhi Chauhan, Shreya Goshal etc.
The movie went on to break all records in the Kannada film industry and made a big star out of Ganesh. All the others like Yograj Bhat, Pooja Gandhi ,Mano Moorthy, Jayant Kaikini Krishna, etc have also become even more popular in their respective streams. So overall the movie has turned out to be a wonderful experience for everyone associated with it.
As a passionate film lover and a die hard romantic myself, I feel that for a romantic flick to succeed, one needs to connect with the on screen romance. When the connect happens like in the case of an Ek Duje Ke Liye, a DDLJ , a QSQT etc I think box office history automatically happens. In case of MM not only myself but nearly everybody else who watched the movie connected to the romance. Kannada cinema certainly got a fresh lease of life with MM.
On a parting note given below are links to some of my most favorite songs in the movie-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yICktD094yU
The first of them is Kunidhu Kunidhu Baare,sung by Udit Narayan & Sunidhi Chauhan.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDTQJs6LbHM&feature=related
The second is Anisuthide Yaako Indu, sung by Sonu Nigam
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnYnqxKoMqg&feature=related
The third is the title track sung by Sonu Nigam again.
Watch the videos and let the monsoon rains herald love once again.
Tags: Ganesh, Mano Moorthy, Mungaru Male, Pooja Gandhi, Yograj Bhatt
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
hey sethu, thx a ton for the this amazing and my most awaited post om MM. this is the only kannada movie i hv watched, and was so impressed by it. i cudnt understand a word of the dialogues, n im so eagerly waitingfor the DVD to be available, but no such luck yet.
u remember we briefly discussed abt this movie when we met last, and i was so desperate to lay my hands on its sub-titled DVD.. plz let me know if u get any info abt the DVD release.
Jha- I definitely remember our discussion on MM when we met last.In fact I decided to write this post after that discussion.Will keep you posted on the DVD release.I would love to have a copy myself
sethu, my bro, u made my day by writing abt this film. eversince i landed in b’lore, this is the first kannada movie i saw & got sold out. My roomie, a painter / artist from Karnataka’s hinterland, made me watch this film once. Boy o boy, I fell in love, first with the music & then of course pooja gandhi! wink! (i never felt the same for her ever after) i cried out loud (after a very long time) when ganesh consoles pooja’s stalker. i was fucked up BIG. i watched the film many times over and still have moist eyes, when Ganesh talks to the dead rabbit. damn. senti kar diya yaar sethu. but havent witnessed any kannada film pulling in non-kannada crowds into the theatre in hordes. cinema is beyond geography & cultures… i happened to meet the lady who played ganesh’s mother in this film and told her that her portrayal of ganesh’s mother reminded me of my own & it was a priceless moment between us. Thanks sethu… what to tell u oye… BTW, hv u seen cheluvina chittara? that one also had me crying loud, especially the climax. reminded me of kamal haasan’s coup-de-grace act in sadma.
Cheluvina chittara is a remake of the path breaking thamizh film ‘Kaadhal’ which was directed by Balaji Sakthivel.
As regards to Mungaru Male – it did indeed redeem commercial kannada movie from the mindless pit it was headed to. Offcourse coorg is ever cherishable – with or without a camera!!
Magik- reading your comment has made me feel senti big time mere bhai.yes even I cried towards the end when Ganesh talks to the dead rabbit.I purposely did not mention about it in my post as a lot of people probably are yet to watch it.I have been following Ganesh’s career quite seriously.Yes Cheluvina Chittara was good, but its a remake of the tamil film Kadhal as pointed out by Jaiganesh.His Hudugaata was a remake of Dil Hai Ki Maanta Nahin/It happened one night.Gaalipaata was another decent movie of Ganesh which I liked to some extent.Had a lot of expectations from Bombaat but it turned out to be a damp squib.Lets hope he comes up with more gems here on.
@Satyendra and Sethu! The DVD is available in the market guys…It’s by Anand films!!! The DVD’s worth 100-200 bucks,and trust me,it’s totally paisa vasool!!!
Vikram- thats great news.The next time I’m in B’lore,I’m surely gonna get one
Hi sir,
Great post. It was one of the movie that took the kannada industry by storm. This movie deserved an article here in PFC. You have put it clearly how and why it was successful.
I hope you remember me. We met during Bangalore film festival. You had given me few tips for my short film.
After being there inside and watching Kannada industry, I think what industry lac is the professional training in every aspect of film making. I have seen many new producers and the direcotrs investing very less time on preproduction and hurrying to finish things which ends up in a low quality work. People find it easy to recycle the stuff that is already done ( I am not complaining about the remakes. If a film is good it should me remade to reach more and audience).
To improve the quality of films I think its important to set up a knowledge base, conduct workshops so that the industry is aware of the things that are ever changing and new things emerging.
And the audience, Yogaraj Bhat once said ” Here people watch the film once if the film is really good. But in our neighbouring states, they watch film only once if the film is bad”
Audience is not expecting much from the industry. When the film was good like “MM” they made sure that the makers are rewarded well. Peole who had not watched kannada film for long went there to watch it. Theatres were full for many many weeks.
And the theaters. Most of the kannada films are showm in the normal theaters not the multiplexes. One can make clear distiction between watching the films in multiplexes and the normal theaters. What’s the use of using best camera or investing heavily on good looks if the film projection operator wants to save his carbon rods. The images are so dull you almost feel sleepy. I am not talking about the sounds. For your information most of the film background score is outsourced by the music director to want to be a music director who just recyles stuff to produce some bangs here and some pathos there (Because even he cares less as it is not on his name). All music director cares about is his five or six songs.
I hope one day all this will change. The real art of film making will resurrect.
Yeah, DVD is out. Its just 60 bucks. And yes, it does have subtitles. Usually, kannada movies dont have the subtitles even in dvd release. Sadly,after MM,duniya, there are hardly any kannada movies that can be called atleast ‘good’. Kannada industry is in dismal state.
Wow… finally…MM deserved a mention here on PFC. Thanx Sethu, for the writeup
One more noteworthy thing is that it is the first movie to RUN FOR A COMPLETE YEAR in PVR. Yes, it ran for an year and only movie in PVR which had HOUSEFULL MATINEE shows on WEEK DAYS
Here is teh link to see many more records it has broken – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mungaru_male
@ Adarsh- I agree with most of your points.Much as I would like to take credit for having met you & given some tips for your short film, I have to admit that you are probably talking about someone else, I havent met you so far
regarding the issue of releases in single screens & not multiplexes- PVR in particular has been supporting most of the big Kannada movies & also some small well made movies.Even other multiplexes like Inox, Fame etc screen the better movies.I dont think there’s been any deserving movie which did not get a multiplex release, forgive me if I’m wrong.
@ Sharath- yes got to know of the DVD’s pricing also yesterday.You are right sadly after MM & Duniya things are not so great for the Kannada industry.
@ Shyam- yes I’m aware that it was the movie to complete a run of 1 year in PVR Bangalore.And in my opinion it was probably the first Kannada movie after ages to get a regular release in Chennai ( released in Casino & Mayajaal).It has gone on to break a lot of awards & I’m proud of the fact.MM deserved all the success.
Hey bro, was a good post on MM, re-visiting MM. I really love the music by Mano Moorthy, I have the songs downloaded in Telugu…I love the song ‘eduta nilichindi chudu..’, dont really understand Kannada well so downloaded the Telugu version. They did remake it in Telugu, but was a big flop!!
@ Sridhar- yes the music by Mano Moorthy is fantastic.The telugu remake ” Vaana” was indeed a big flop.Produced by M.S.Raju & starring Vinay & Meera Chopra, I really dont think it did full justice to the original.Moreover the novelty factor was missing in telugu.I like the song mentioned by you, but prefer the original version-
Anisuthide Yaako Indu.Actually the music has been modified a bit in the telugu version.
i guess this is the only film in whole India to run for a year in a multiplex.
The DVD of the film is already out. I think it was the treatment of the subject which made it memorable.
I have one opinion to say here. In the beginning, Preetham stands on the edge of Jog Falls and accepts Nandini. Then they sing “olave vismaya” which translates as “love is wonderful/amazing” … At this point, we can watch the amazing Jog falls. Here Yogaraj Bhat compares their love to this jog falls.
But later by the end of the movie, the same Preetham stands on the edge of the jog falls with tears… And the same jog falls is shown in a blue-ish lens. Here he shows, how dangerous love could be. Dangerous is not the exact word. But something near to this word.
And till Preetham is in love, the whole video is shown in a WET way. There is rain always and you can feel the rain everywhere.
But at the end, when preetham looses his love, the whole video is shown in a dry way, no rain. It signifies the dryness of his mind.
Sethu, you have said about that the romance should get connected with the viewers.
Its almost some 8 months ago, i was speaking to my close friend and asking her – “a movie comes in a film industry once in 5-10 years, on which none of us will have hopes. It will have good songs, lyrics. It does not run initially for a couple of weeks. But by the word of the mouth publicity, people start coming. And in a few days, the film becomes famous… Songs become popular, the dialogues will be on the tongue of youths and college guys use the dialogues and such mannerisms to impress their classmate girls. The same film songs will become a dance number in the college functions. All the things used in the movie comes to the market… the clothes which hero and heroine wore in the movie, will become the trend… the film will be liked by the aged people as well… finally the movie becomes a part of the culture… how does this happen?”
Now i got the answer… ya one needs to connect with the on screen romance.
and one doubt… when the crew make such films, will they really have in their minds about whether their works will finally be a part of the culture in future?
@ Govinda- Yes I certainly feel the treatment of the subject was a major factor in the movie’s success.You have made an interesting observation- yes when Preetam & Nandini are in love, the monsoon rain is in all its splendour, but when the movie nearly ends, you see the rain stopping!!!And yes I sincerely believe that for a romantic flick to succeed the audience must connect to the on screen romance.Jab We Met is probably the most recent example of the same.
Regarding your question, I feel its difficult for any film crew to plan if their work can be a part of the culture in futire.But yes I’m sure if they feel they are working on something outstanding they would have some hopes of becoming part of history/culture.Tough to plan but always good to hope for right?
sethu, right… i was just thinking of jab we met. and dont you feel there is a resemblance of story line between ddlj and mungaru male. a guy falling in love with an already engaged girl. i dont call it intentional. but..
Let me come to few aspects of camera work. Just observe the camera work. Most of the shots used in songs are what we call as dutch angle – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_angle .
in the song, anisutide yaako indu, towards the end, ganesh sitting on stones and the camera slowly approaches him. The way the camera nears him can be related to the music. And the light used in this scene is a type of vibrating light. i mean the light is fluctuating. i guess they used a slow moving fan in front of the light to create this effect.
towards the end of anisutide yaako indu song, ganesh is floating over the water. you observe carefully, you can notice the reflection of jimmy jib (camera trolley).
@ Govinda-
Yes the similarity between DDLJ & MM is there in terms of a guy falling for an already engaged girl, but definitely not intentional.When you drill it down,the differences are very apparent.
Yes now that you’ve mentioned I do agree there are a lot of dutch angles used in the shot.Will see the Anisuthide Yaako Indu song once again & try to observe the reflection of Jimmy Jib, haven’t noticed it earlier.
Gosh! when is another movie of this class gonna come in Kannada?
MM ,the only kannada movie I have seen till date is surely not a path breaking film as far a romantic films go ,but one of the most endearing I have seen.
[Editor Note: Brave heart your comment is partially deleted as you are owning abusive langauge. Please maintain a dignified discussion and which should be related with the topic. Personal attack on anybody and abusive language will not be tolerated]
plzz stop talking abt this ….. film…suddenly too many ……….on this blog discussing their sub standard films
[Editor Note: Holy cow. Please maintain a dignified discussion and which should be related with the topic. Personal attack on anybody and abusive language will not be tolerated. Your comment is partially deleted]
@brave heart…………… why you are so angry, …All problems will be solved..dont worry..
This blog is not for high standard ……. films alone, let some poor …….. discuss some substandard ……..films also…
Since some of the greatest Indian films where made in south India, and produced the best technicians, greatest actors…you would not be aware of…since your knowledge would be limited to ‘Kaun Kaahat hai, Meri langoti ka rang peela hai’ kind of talk and cinema…
All the best, for your wretched life
cow,
understand what i am saying…this film ppl are discussing is a a cliched regressive film…i mean there are films coming up dealing with new themes and concepts…i mean grow up…stop eating farex…cow wake up….south is also my country but i am talking abt cinema not region…i love paruthu veeran, subramania puram, love mani ratnam, balachander…but sorry not this shit
so cow think before coming to a conclusion and make mistaken racist statements …cow…your name couldnt have been better:)
I guess its time we started discussing a bit more objectively over here.
@ Braveheart- you didnt like the movie, cool thats fine.That doesnt mean you need to react so badly.And looks like you’ve never bothered to read this post carefully.I’ve clearly mentioned that the movie isnt great but nevertheless needs to be appreciated as it brought back some glory to Kannada cinema.
@ Braveheart,Holycow- can we be a bit more civil over here?
@brave heart…Please don’t bring regionalism into this site meant for cinema and the love of it with stereotyping like ‘Southie’s etc.
@Holycow…Mind your language..None can abuse anybody like this…
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