A scintillating surreal sojourn into mindscape

Rama Rama Re
Kannada (U) Cast: Nataraj, Jayaram, Dharmanna Kadur, Bimbashree Ninasam, Radha Ramachandra, Priya Shatamarshan, Sridhar
Director: D Satyaprakash

Sandalwood, of late, is witness to rare breed of film-makers, daring and different. Investing faith and money to provide credible cinema. Belonging to that bandwagon of debutants is D Satyaprakash, who has taken that leap of faith to hurl himself into big league with Rama Rama Re.

An impressive debut it turns to be. Inspired by Bhagavad Gita’s philosophical debate on life and death, as Krishna counsels distraught Arjuna, Satyaprakash has crafted a compelling narrative, burnishing it with nuanced script, with a simple strand of convict’s escape, that has viewers in thrall right from when death row criminal Sandal Raja, does Run Raja Run, from prison. Raja has flown the coop, horrified at the prospects of being hanged.

Rama Rama Re is a roadie movie with assorted panoply of players joining in as Raja tries to evade long arm of law. Ironically Ramanna, former hangman, with his jalopy of jeep, enroute to provide training for new recruits, that distressed Raja seeks help.

Soon eloping lovers Dharma and Subbi, escaping from caste conscious parents, Ajji seeking to rush her pregnant daughter-in-law to hospital, army man arriving for his wife’s delivery, hitch on.

Not far behind is the police officer caught betweeen chasing the fleeing felon and having to miss TV serial he is addicted to, lover couple’s fuming families hot on their chase, while the jeep, real protagonist, turns into a crib for the new born.

How on learning Raja has Rs 10 lakh reward on head, provides Satyaprakash meat to address individual psyche of protagonists, their inner conflicts and contradictions, caught as they are in their own angst and anxities, frisson relationships, turns Rama Rama Re delectable fare. Brimming with sardonic humour, pungent satire, Rama Rama Re subtly tackles horde of hard boiled social issues — caste conflicts, efficacy of death penalty, yo-yo of what constitutes right and wrong, what does one achieve in end in life’s struggles, the inner turmoils. 

Besides convincing performances by the ensemble cast, Rama Rama Re is embellished by Vasuki Vaibhai and Nobin Paul’s moody background score with equally enchanting cinematography by Lavith who captures various natural landscapes — stretches of mountains, valleys, grassland, meadows, fields, forts, waterfalls, beaches, as players go through their turmoil, with panache, as Raja & Co cruise through Vijayapura (Bijapur) and other parts of the state. Bravo!