We regularly read about yet another startup getting a mammoth fresh round of funding, of how venture capitalists and angel investors help make or break ideas, and of home-grown unicorns… Startups are also often the butt of jokes and memes, and Bengaluru even more so, being the hometown of so many of those. But do we pause to think of those who keep trying and never make it? Or of the sheer backbreaking labour and ideation involved in a startup?
Pradeep Sastry tries to do just that with Made in Bengaluru, a three-hour ode to the city he so loves. That love is apparent in every frame — it has probably been a while since you’ve seen on screen the garden city’s roadside greenery in such closeup as in this film. The water bodies, the trees under which people wait, the nourishing haunts of startup hopefuls, individual lived-in homes in a city full of high-rises, and still-pedestrian-friendly roads in at least some parts of Bengaluru.
The film is about three friends — Suhas (Madhusudhan Govind), Rahul (Puneet Manja), and Nyaan (Vamshidhar) — who seek funding for their startup that aspires to link farmers to consumers, and the people they meet along the journey. There’s the grumpy Uncle (Prakash Belawadi), who rubbishes everything Suhas brings along, and there’s Prahlad Hiranandani with a strange accent that Anant Nag nails. The legendary actor is a gem we should cherish more. His role here could not have been more different from his previous outing, Thimayya & Thimayya, yet how well he sells us both of the characters.
Then there’s Sai Kumar, who triggers nostalgia playing the super-loud gangster Reddy with a bunch of thugs under him, including a Hundertaker (who’s buried 100 people!). Predictably, Suhas gets entangled with Reddy, which leaves him with no option but to make his startup idea work, make money, and pay back Reddy. Of course, there’s a love story inside all this, which is also the cause for the twist!
At one stage, Suhas finds himself all alone after an incident his friends nearly warn him about, and he decides to bear the brunt of Reddy’s anger alone and parts ways with them. His idea ends up getting trashed too.
The film sails along until this point, but then flounders for a wee bit as Pradeep tries to show us Suhas’s psyche and the hit it takes. This is where the film temporarily comes undone, much like Suhas. He does things totally against his grain, before he and the film rediscover their purpose again.
While Suhas is best buddies with Rahul and Nyaan, he totally ignores poor Bhatta (a fabulous Shankar Murthy), who’s constantly trying to chat up Suhas regarding an idea. Suhas does to Bhatta exactly what others do to the latter, before he finally figures life. We won't tell you much but for the fact that the winning idea involves a lot of steam.
Bhatta, for me, is the hero of the film — an old world boy with Dakshina Kannada roots who finds himself a misfit in present-day Bengaluru. He’s the one with the winning idea, the one who patches bonds, the one who feeds someone in hunger, the man with the big heart, and no talk. Suhas is most of us — never realising the gold that Bhatta is, till all things shiny in his life lose their lustre.
Is Bhatta Bangalore/Bengaluru? I’d like to think so. Like the city that has hosted numerous people from across the country and world, he is the one who forgives all slights, a gift that keeps giving.
I loved the world that Pradeep created, and as someone who loves languorously-paced movies, did not particularly mind the length, though there are possibilities for some snappier transitions. I’d have loved to see more of the veterans, though — Anant, Prakash, and Sai. They really are on a roll! Ashwin PK’s music lends the film all the charm it needs, and some more. That hat tip to the Seagram’s ‘Men Will be Men’ series of jingles and the hint of ‘Pyaar Ki Raah Mein’ — ah, chindhi chitranna moment!
Cinematographer Bajarang Konatham shows you a side of Bengaluru that is the heart and soul of startups. But the camera also shows you those silent in the background.
What I loved most about the film is that while Suhas keeps citing examples of Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and Mark Zuckerberg, he eventually becomes a CEO who listens to his head, heart, and — more importantly — conscience. He does try a short cut, but rushes back to being the person with integrity he is. And as far-fetched as it may seem, it is nice to see the good ones succeed, at least on film.
This is a good film to conclude the year with.