Those days...

ಆ ದಿನಗಳು

Lights... Camera... Action!
A movie par excellence, and with no major budget as well!
I think its movies like these that are keeping our Kannada Film Industry afloat. Once upon a time, Kannada film Industry aka Sandalwood, had a golden age, with some really awesome movies, heros like ನಮ್ಮ ಅಣ್ಣಾವ್ರು, ಸಾಹಸ ಸಿಂಹ, extremely talented directors, one of my all time favourites - ಪುಟ್ಟಣ್ಣ ಕಣಗಾಲ್ etc! But in recent times, nothing much has come out!

And aa dinagalu is one extremely well directed movie! It has about two songs and not much background score as well! It really makes you think... do we really need a big star cast, major budget. This movie showcases the pure talent of a director. Really! Hats off to director Chaitanya and the 'those days' crew for a job well done!

Its a known fact that movies can create magic. But its really nice to see a simple movie give that delicate touch of finesse. Simple costumes, simple dialogues, simple background scores, simple cast, simple set up and simply brilliant!
This movie reminds me of a tamizh movie called "Velli Tirai" which translates to 'Silver Screen'. Its about how an upcoming director fights for a place in the hoplessly complicated and unfair film industry! The movie stars veteran Prakash Rai. This too was a simple movie. The last 20 odd minutes were simply brilliant! The movie as a whole may not be as captivating as this one, but it shows how simple movies can also be made.

I also remember a song from Superstar's Kuselan... It's titled 'Cinema Cinema'. A line in that song goes "Kadaval yaar enru yaar paartaar adai kannil kaatum inda cinema thaan" meaning "Who knows what God looks like, but its only cinema that shows you how he looks"!

Very True!