Director: Girish Kasaravalli; Writer: Girish Kasaravalli; Cinematographer: G.S. Bhaskar; Editor: MN Swamy; Cast: Sridhar, Smitha Kasaravalli, A.B. Jayaram, Narayana Bhatt, Shantamma, Loknath, Shankar
Summary: Folk-theatre-derived melodrama set in the
famed Karnataka tradition of the Yakshagana, a
variant of the Kathakali style involving
complicated make-up and rigorous dance
codes, patronised mainly by temples which
invite groups to perform for worship and to
raise revenue. The central character, Shambhu
(Shankar), a member of such a group, is a
traumatised and guilt-ridden figure usually
relegated to minor roles but with the driving
ambition of playing the male lead by displacing
the arrogant Sheshappa. When he is allowed to
play the demonic Jhunjhutti, he pretends to be
possessed by the demon and uses his newfound
reputation to start an alternate theatre
group sponsored by the financially ailing
Kapileshwara temple. His performative
limitations, and the secondary problems caused
by his having to live a fake identity, intensify
his emotional crises and the film ends on a
tragic note after he is revealed to be a fraud.
Kasaravalli’s stylised idiom, the film’s most
attractive aspect, is restricted to the
performances while routine realism prevails in
the rest of the story.
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