Lancha Samrajya Kannada Movie
'Lancha Samrajya' is a film which tells about the ill effects of the corruption in the society. The film does not have one story thread that revolves around a character, but it has several incidents to relate which makes it look like a narration of collage of incidents. And finally it leads to the incident that involves the Chief Minister. Throughout the film it is said that the Chief Minister is the pillar of democracy, and his negative actions are bound to impact the people of the state. Finally, the Chief Minister is exposed in the film though judiciary exonerates him because of technical grounds.
'Lancha Samrajya' starts off well with a sequence where a do goodie Dattanna (played by Master Hirannaiah) is challenged by the Devil of corruption which has gone deep into the psyche of every person in the state. Corruption is expanding to every segment of the society, what can you do to control it' - asks Dattanna. Then the film relates an incident where an honest engineer is forced by a group of people to give permission to a plan, which is in gross violation of building laws. The tragedy is that the honest engineer is under pressure to sign it by all his superiors, but he sticks to his guns. When the pressure becomes unbearable, he gets a heart attack and is admitted to the Hospital. Finally he recoups, but understands that the same group, which has been tormenting him to give the illegal permission, finances his medical expenses. Pressurized by the family, he signs on the plan with a great reluctance. There are many incidents in the film like this and finally there is an incident of a corrupt chief minister who has an eye on an actress. The actress refuses to compromise her self respect, but the Chief Minister forces her to be with him for a day. Finally the actress gets killed. But the Chief Minister wins the court battle.
Boodal Krishnamurthy is an old horse and has tried to narrate the film in his own way keeping the budget constraints in mind. Since Master Hirannaiah who is a famous theatre personality plays the lead role in the film, the narration drifts to the theatrical mode more often than not. Therefore the film has less cinematic elements, and more of dramatic narration. And technically the film opts for the style that was seen in eighties. This would naturally make the film little dragging in some places. To tap it the director has also used commercial elements like item songs in many places of the film. Even the effectiveness of the dialogues gets diluted because of the stylized acting of the artists.
Master Hirannaiah's dialogue delivery has always been the high point in his dramas, but in a film like 'Lancha Samrajya' it looks too monotonous. C.R.Simha plays the role of the Chief Minister to perfection, though it is difficult to imagine that a Chief Minister is so brash as to go to the house of an actress and kill her. Umashri as the mother of the Chief Minister has performed her role with elan. The director has failed to get the best out of Balakrishna Kakathkar, a famous television personality who has acted in an important role in the film.
Basavaraju's camera work and Raju Upendrakumar's music compositions are much better.
Though 'Lancha Samrajya' deals with a serious social issue and has some good elements, in the overall analysis it is yet another film that does not rise above the ordinary.
