Manada Kadalu (Kannada)
Filmmaker Yogaraj Bhat’s previous few outings indicate that he has been off his usual game. Aside from their underwhelming box office exploits, films like Garadi (2023) and Karataka Damanaka (2024) did not boast his signature touch that delivered cult classics like Mungaru Male (2006), Gaalipata (2008), Pancharangi (2010) and more. One longed to see the writer-director, known for his eccentric wordplay and unique perspectives on love and life, recapture his old mojo. With his latest film, Manada Kadalu, it is safe to say that he has taken somewhat of a promising step in that direction.
Manada Kadalu comes as a love story featuring three young people from different walks of life. Sumukha (played by Sumukha) is an MBBS dropout whose disillusionment with the medical profession has led him on a wayward path of self-discovery. A chance encounter with Rashika (Rashika Shetty), a budding cricketer, lends him a new sense of purpose as he sets out to pursue her love, while she offers reluctance in return, owing to a very specific reason. Added to the mix is Anju or Anjali (Anjali Anish), Rashika’s best friend, who has diverted her own curiosities towards archaeological research, making the fictional Adivasi island of Donidurga her new home.
Kicking off in cities like Bengaluru and Mysuru, the story soon makes its way to Donidurga, whose timeworn forts (Maharashtra’s Murud-Janjira Fort is used in the film) and other relics of a medieval past make for an interesting setting for what’s to unfold. Bhat’s frequent collaborator and cinematographer, Santhosh Rai Pathaje’s camera finds a great muse in this environment. His frames endearingly capture the drizzle-draped Western Ghats, and he often shuffles between wide drone angles and medium close-up shots (along with many slow-motion shots) to render vivid imagery of the landscape.
Art Director Shivakumar J of K.G.F 2 and Salaar fame designs many elaborate set pieces, including an underground medical facility, run by the enigmatic traditional healer played by Dattanna. The set erections are striking in their own right, but their sheer intricacy and baroqueness also distract us from the drama in the foreground.
The crux of Manada Kadalu is the love triangle, which carries strong echoes of a yesteryear romance. Laced with motifs like selfless love, friendship and sacrifice, the film attempts to blend the dynamics of contemporary relationships with the sensibilities of a bygone era, where idealism often strived to triumph over pragmatism. The harmonising of these two worlds isn't always smooth, but Bhat revels in this kind of heightened drama. His trademark style of combining lyrical dialogues, philosophy and music (V. Harikrishna delivering a melodic soundtrack) works well in the film's favour as it veils the many inconsistencies in the narrative and instead infuses it with an ethereal quality. More than the plot, it is the rhythm of the story that Bhat wants us to follow.
His most valuable tool, in this regard, is his quintessential protagonist. Sumukha is goofy and optimistic, yet with an unorthodox outlook towards life who comes of age as he goes about finding meaning in everything transpiring around him. The love that he seeks comes burdened with tragedy, but he must navigate it all with his best asset, which is his sincerity, and actor Sumukha does a fine job portraying the part with his boyish, easy charm. Similarly, Anjali too yearns for love, but she understands that it carries the risk of wronging her best friend, meaning that she must repress it for the greater good. In between stands Rashika, who is shadowed by a grave tragedy of her own; all three principal characters share good camaraderie.
At the same time, Bhat struggles to find a delicate balance between his chosen sense of style and the restraint required to narrate a story of this kind. The verbose nature of his writing is well-known, and it is on full display in Manada Kadalu. However, the film also commanded a deft hand, which allowed the viewer to grasp its subtext. A lot is spelt out in the film- either literally or through the manipulative background score - and that overzealous approach only takes the sheen off the intriguing interplay building between the characters.
Even the humour, one of the filmmaker’s stronger suits, feels off-base in the film. The subplot of an Adivasi community, headed by the character played by Rangayana Raghu, is presumably employed to forge a connection between modernity and nativeness, but the idea feels misguided and simply leads to gags that are silly and lewd. Even the idiosyncrasies of the Adivasi tribe shown (the customs, the language, the way of living, etc) are under-explored and they, too, give rise to unintentional caricaturing.
Ultimately, Manada Kadalu is a film that offers a lot in terms of perspectives and ruminations, but not all resonate as intended. At times, the writer-director's famed incoherence gets in the way, or else it is his heavy-handedness undercutting the impact. Still, Yogaraj Bhat impresses with his candour, and the genuineness of his storytelling somehow alleviates the film of all its shortcomings. It could also have been shorter in terms of runtime, yet the film is likely to work its charm on those who miss the simplicity of the old-school romance.
Swaroop Kodur is a freelance film writer, critic, and fledgling filmmaker.
Disclaimer: This review was not paid for or commissioned by anyone associated with the film. Neither TNM nor any of its reviewers have any sort of business relationship with the film’s producers or any other members of its cast and crew.