Hunger is the operative theme of Santhosh Ananddram’s Raghavendra Stores, a frolicking comedy-drama starring Jaggesh and produced by Hombale Films. Hunger surfaces in several forms in the film over the course of its 1-hour-and-45-minute run time – hunger for love and physical connection, hunger for power, and also the more literal form of hunger. And to further extrapolate this, the film is interestingly set in and around a traditional restaurant called Raghavendra Stores, which is more than 50 years old.
Age, too, is of significance in Raghavendra Stores and a lot of the plot revolves around the protagonist’s race against time to find a bride. Not a day goes by without Hayavandana (Jaggesh) – a cook at Raghavendra Stores – being reminded that his sunny days are well behind him or the fact that 40 is considered retirement age not only for athletes but also for unmarried men.
Of course, the film uses Hayavadana’s plight to generate humour, and who better than the Navarasa Nayaka to do the job? Jaggesh is as pop-eyed as you would expect and his one-liners are as innuendo-filled as they are meant to be. But to be fair, the idea is to watch the story unfold through Jaggesh, the actor, and see which variant of his personality he brings to the table; the hope is to see him melt into the character, no doubt, but you find that the power of his image is so limiting that he just cannot help but be himself the entire time.
So, naturally, one expects the characters around him to be better etched out. That opportunity arises when Shwetha Srivatsav’s Vyjayanthi enters the picture. On the surface, the character is refreshing and assertive in her own way, but Santhosh’s script is too preoccupied with the humour and double entendres that it never digs any deeper. Steve Carell’s The 40-year-old Virgin, a film of the same ilk, portrayed a kind of chemistry between the lead pair that is not only hilarious but also sincere and empathetic, but Raghavendra Stores never seems bothered about finding out why this odd couple clicks or why one is attracted to the other.
Instead, what Santhosh does is offer a smattering of ideas to prod the story forward, but none of these resonate with the central theme of the film. We start with Hayavadana’s slightly miserable status quo and then are gradually nudged towards an uncanny marriage story, only to realise that the film is about neither. Is it about sex then? Well, yes, but only sparingly and in a rather one-dimensional manner. In a matter of minutes, the narrative canters from marriage and love to politics, corruption, surrogacy, adoption, and everything in between, never really settling on one topic.
It’s a pity that the film, in an attempt to sell us an emotional experience, ends up being slightly banal and manipulative. There is no harm in wanting to invoke over-the-top emotions when the film’s heart is in the right place, but the same cannot be a compensatory tool for the lack of a good script.
The performances do help salvage the poor writing to an extent and one must perhaps be thankful for Jaggesh’s image referred to earlier. His antics and mannerisms might seem overly familiar and repetitive, but the actor knows the exact pitch of the performance and the humour that the film is attempting. A lot of the comedy is crass and the strained screenplay ends up relying way too much on it, even going overboard at times. Jaggesh is ably supported by Dattanna, who plays his father and the owner of Raghavendra Stores. Shwetha is impressive as Vyjayanthi but her talent warranted a more well-rounded character. The rest of the actors, including Achyuth Kumar, Ravishankar Gowda, Mithra, and others, are cast well but there isn’t enough depth in any of their parts to impress you. Shreesha Kuduvalli’s cinematography is colour-rich and dreamy in most parts and B Ajaneesh Loknath’s music is evocative during the more dramatic moments and chirpy and fun otherwise.
Raghavendra Stores is not devoid of sparks or unconventional ideas but the film feels marred by uninspired writing. Who knows, had the writer-director chosen to build on the oddities of the Hayavadana-Vyjayanthi relationship, the film would have taken a much better shape. Or, had it concerned itself more with the sexual desires and conundrums of a late-marriage couple, maybe there was a lot more scope for tender moments to emerge. It feels contrived in many parts because it refuses to pay attention to the minute details and instead uses broad ideas that don’t necessarily come to life.
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.