Jogi Kannada Movie
Shivaraj Kumar "Jogi" which has been released on the Varamahalakshmi Festival day with high expectations from the fans is the sentimental story of a village simpleton turned an underworld hireling and his equally innocent mother searching for each other in the unsympathetic, cruel world of Bangalore.
The film is well shot and has a high-class music, which had a direct impact on the tremendous openings that the film obtained and does stand up to the expectations it has raised. The major factor which helps the film is the electrifying performance of Shivaraj Kumar who has acted as Madesha. His two different get ups in the film, his body language as a village simpleton and later in the sequences where the process of the search for his mother starts are the major highlights of the film.
The major plus point in the film is the music by Guru Kiran. All the songs had become major hits even before the release of the film and the audio and CD sales in the retail shops had created a record. But the song sequences could have been much better. Particularly the title song that is shot in Rajasthan is certainly below the expectations that were built among the fans.
The story revolves around a simple and straightforward Madesha who is sentimentally attached to his parents. He loses his father and on advises of his relatives, he goes alone to Bangalore to earn money for livelihood and keep his mother happy. While the search for job is continuing, he gets entangled in some dispute in the underworld.
Madesha is unaware of any developments in the underworld, but he is forced to take up sword to defend himself. In the bargain he kills a notorious person and is sent to jail. The local dons decide to finish him off. Meanwhile, his mother also comes out of his village to meet her son in Bangalore. The search for the son by his mother begins. Then Madesha learns that his mother has also left the village. He also starts searching for his mother.
Meanwhile, the gang wars continue and one gang wants to kill Madesha. In a quirk of destiny Madesha will participate in his mother's last rights and procession without even knowing that the dead body is that of his mother. When the truth is revealed, Madesha is upset and dances in the crematorium as was the practice in the village when his mother was around.
Director Prem has done his best by selecting the best artists for the roles. He has chosen his locations very well. He looks like the real captain of the ship in the last half hour of the film when he takes complete control of the film. The last thirty minutes are gripping and well narrated.
Shivaraj Kumar has delivered a powerful performance and it will not surprise anyone if he wins an award and a great level of critical acclaim. Nothing can be extra ordinary about well known theatre artist Arundathi Nag's portrayal in the mother's role. Newcomer Jennifer Kothwal impresses though she has a brief role.
Yana Gupta comes and goes in an item number. Ramesh Bhatt and Sanketh Kashi are just adequate. But Raghuram proves his mettle in a small role. Many of the fresh faces including the villains are good.
Seenu has excelled in photography, the underworld portions have been shot with lot of care and good shot composing. Prem has created a perfect ambience for the film in each and every sequence of the film. But he could do well to trim a few sequences in two halves of the film. Nothing can be said of the music of the film, which is really out of the world.
"Jogi" combines all commercial elements like sentiment, hero oriented dynamism and extra ordinary songs, which certainly makes an attractive proposition for the fans. But whether the sentimental angle found in the second half of the film will be liked the family audience has to be seen.
