Film: Chowka
Director: Tarun Sudhir
Cast: Prem, Vijay Raghavendra, Diganth and Prajwal Devaraj
Rating: 4/5
With debutant director Tarun Sudhir creating enough buzz by employing about 25 technicians for his film Chowka, the distinctive aspect of the film is the narrative which emerges through various decades, encapsulating the lives of four people and their love lives while sending across a strong message relatable to the common man. Rather than opting for the time-tested formula of commercial cinema, Tarun displays his boldness and maturity to handle a subject which might look complicated at the face of it, but eases during the course of the story to become simple and comprehensible. The 50th film made under Dwarakish Pictures garners attention from the title cards, which will take the entire crew down memory lane.
A thriller and a family drama, the film opens with Chikkanna as Manjunath alias Manja unfolding the life of four people whom he meets during different periods. So, as young Manja meets his first friend Hakki Gopala (Prem) in the year 1986, and then his second friend Krishnamurthy aka Krisha (Diganth) in 1995 followed by Suriya (Vijay Raghavendra) in the year 2000 and Anwar (Prajwal Devaraj) in 2007. As the first half revolves around their romantic lives, at one point, the four are imprisoned for a crime they did not commit. The films comes to the present with their encounter with Vishwanath (Kashinath) in the jail. The episode gives them a bigger picture of the outside world and they decide to escape to get justice to a man, who has been accused of raping his daughter. Will the four succeed and how is their fate ends is the crux of the climax with an impactful message.
A heavy duty film, Tarun shows promise and his eye for detail is evident with Chowka. There are a lot of stories but none get entangled. Of course, the film is stretched, but the director manages to maintain the grip all throughout.
All the actors have gone by the content of the film and although they are established actors in their own right, none have shown a hint of wanting to overshadow the other. Even Challenging star Darshan’s cameo is justified as he faces off with Baahubali Kalakeya. Senior actor Kashinath and Manvitha’s roles are a surprise. The heroines - Aindrita Ray, Priyamani, Bhavana and Deepa Sanidhi - share less screen space, but add to the charm of the film. Technically all of them have contributed to the film. Credit should go to the music directors for the beautiful songs. Espeically the track, Appa I love You, which certainly makes tears rolling down. Watch Chowka for its pragmatic message to all of us.