Run baby, Run! : Minchina Ota Movie Review

Movie Review By Raju Shanbhag

In the climax of Minchina Ota, you see a bunch of 1-15 people sitting in front of a tea stall with grim faces; waiting for the two heroes to return home. There were equal number of people present in the theatre; and they had similar expressions on their faces. There was a minor difference; the spectators didn’t give a damn about fate of the heroes, they just wanted the bloody film to get over. Minchina Ota, for all its hype and hoopla, will chase the audience out of the theatres with its unimaginative storyline and horrible acting. How fast can you run?

The warning bells start ringing loud and clear from the very first scene, where goons with toy guns (Shh… we need to pretend they are real) push a marwadi into the sea. Then follows a series of scenes which would have given any 80’s Prabhakar movie a serious run for its money. There is a chocolate faced don (Suman), two warring groups of street rowdies, pathetic jokes and a triangle love story that cause you to tear your hair in frustration. How refreshing!

There is one aspect of the movie that almost advertises the inability of director A.M.R. Ramesh to give attention to details; the acting of new artists. Words are not enough to describe the classic blank expressions given by many of the newcomers who haunt the movie like ghosts in a deserted castle. Established actors such as Mukhyamanthri Chandru and Sudha Belawadi manage to come out unscathed, thanks to their years of experience in this field. But the newcomers such as the girl who plays Murali’s sister and Vijaya Raghavendra’s friends poke their noses in every possible scene and make your living unbearable for a good three hours. It was as if they were freaking out on the sets, doing what they felt, while the director was busy shooting the chase sequence; run baby, run!

We all know that Rangayana Raghu is a fantastic actor. But our filmmakers seem to be intent on destroying his hard earned fame with repetitive roles that betray his caliber as an artist. To say that he overacts in Minchina Ota is an understatement. It will be good for both Rangayana Raghu and the viewers if the man gets a little choosier in his roles.

Vijaya Raghavendra is the saving grace of the film and he gives a memorable performance. He makes this otherwise horrible film tolerable with his freshness and manages to make even half baked scenes believable. Murali is well built and that’s all we can say about him. If Lakshmi Rai could act, we didn’t see any proof of that at least in this movie.

Oh yes! The chase sequence. This is probably the longest chase sequence shown on the Indian screen. Well, that’s about the USP of this scene! Unfortunately, the effort put in with four super35 cameras doesn’t translate into exciting scenes on the silver screen. It’s just like any other chase scene shown in other south Indian movies. The director and the cameraman try to accentuate the effect by fast forwarding the chase while editing the movie and the result is not very effective. Also, the director states that they took 20 days to complete a scene where the car hits the train. But when you watch the scene, it appears as if they spent 19 days to get a Ford car and then took one day to ram it into a train!

The chase sequence apart, P.Rajan’s camera work is brilliant in parts. Watch out for the first song of the movie where he provides us with a breathtaking view of a waterfall. A couple of songs are good by V. Manohar. Dharma’s background music is just what the doctor ordered for this movie.

Well, we know that a lot of hard work has gone into this movie and director Ramesh has put lots of effort into the technicalities of the film. But we wish he had put lot more thought into the screenplay and made the presentation neater and at least tolerable. Whatever happened to the man who made Cyanide!

Errata: The cinematographer of the movie is P.Rajan, not Jolly Sebastin as we had mentiend in the review.

Minchina Ota Audio(Music) Review: Definitely worth listening to!

Music Review By Raju Shanbhag

After disappointing music lovers in Meravanige, V. Manohar has come back with some good music in Minchina Ota. Although the album is not exactly great, V. Manohar proves his mettle with some really good and unique songs.

We Love You Ganesha: If you have listened Yakshagana Bhagavatas, you will know that women Bhagavatas are rare; and using the Yakshagana style songs in films is rare. Singer Leelvati Baipaaditya does a commendable job rendering this song. The song starts off really interestingly and just when you start thinking that it’s unique, it kind of looses track and spoils the fun by transforming to be a typical front bencher song.

Aa Moda Hani Aitu: Ok, we all know that Vijay Yesudas is a favorite of V. Manohar. After nearly destroying his favorite singer’s career in Meravanige with some really pathetic songs, V. Manohar now gives him a melodious song, which Vijay won’t mind singing and we won’t mind listening too!

Minchante Bandu: After raising the expectations with the first two songs, V. Manohar threatens to return with the haunting memories of Mearavanige with a rather forgettable opening for this song. But do not despair, even though the song is not extraordinary, you can definitely give it a try.

Hey Premi: We don’t really know the story of the film and its sequences as yet. But is this song about trying to wake up the dead lover from the grave? If this was the goal, Manohar has been successful in his goal. Glad that it finishes soon.

O Megha: Not had enough of Aa Moda Hani Aitu? Well, listen to this repeat of Aa Made Hani Aitu with different lyrics.

Allondu Sanna Mane: A cute but very small song sung by Mangala Ravi. Just when you wish Manohar had extended this song, you remember ‘We Love You Ganesha’ and shut up!

Thangali Illi Ba: Still not had enough of Aa Moda Hani Aitu? Well……….

O Geleya: Now we know how there are 10 songs in the film. Not had enough of Hey Premi? V. Manohar and Raghu Dixit won’t rest till they have woken up somebody from the dead.

Hey Huduga: Didn’t have enough of O Geleya? Well, before you skip this song just because you had bad memories of O Premi and O Geleya, be informed that this is a real good song sung By M. D Pallavi. It’s amazing to see how the same tune is transformed into a beautiful song by using a very good singer.

Jwale Jwale: Well, Jwale is kind of interesting and even though it appears to be a remix of some old songs, and will never be a chart buster, it still looks pretty interesting. Listen to it.