Ondu Motteya Kathe Review - Hairless but Soulful !!!

Bharath Vijayakumar

Are you one of those who wondered what it would be to have a look at the life of Vimal (you might recollect better if I said "Java sir") from the Malayalam blockbuster Premam? - the person with a receding hairline who tries to pursue Malar teacher. Premam for the most part played it out as comedy. But there are numerous mainstream films which merely mock at these (not the conventionally good looking) characters who fall for the heroine. It is as though their love or infatuation for the heroine is something to be laughed at while the hero who could be anything including a drunkard who keeps stalking the heroine is the one who deserves to win her. There is a world of difference between mocking and comedy. Here comes a small Kannada film 'Ondu Motteya Kathe' that narrates a story through the viewpoint of someone who would only be mocked at and given limited screentime in the regular commercial space.But make no mistake. The film is not a tearjerker. It probably is the funniest move to have come out this year so far. 

Plot:

A balding youngster and the search for his better half.

This is one of the most realistic comedies you might get to watch. The situations and reactions are so very real. There is no laboured attempt to make you laugh. The comedy is out there in everything. You do not laugh at the characters but you laugh with them as a response to how they react to situations they are put in. Raj B Shetty is brilliant as the protagonist (he happens to be the director as well). It never really looks as though he is performing in front of a camera. You probably wonder if this is the real 'him'. He also extracts similar performances from his cast. The actors who play his worried parents, the girls in his life, the Principal who is always on the lookout to extract fines from his students, the peon, and the Guruji who is honest until he is offered money – all of them standout. It has been a while since we laughed at something on screen with not a hint of buffoonery. For a film as subtle as this, it does not lose out on the style quotient  as well. Watch out for the rap style song with a group of balding men that is inventively choreographed.

At times the film is a black comedy. It is a fascinating character study as well. At times it possibly acts as a mirror to our sensibilities on how we try to manufacture love from physical attraction. The film never judges anyone. Towards the end we do start looking at the leading man a little differently and possibly even with a tinge of angst when he rejects a girl based on her looks. But hold a minute and you realize that his fixation towards physical beauty might possibly stem from his own inferiority complex. He possibly wants to show everyone that a beautiful girl can fall for him. But this is the fix. He keeps reiterating that he wants a girl to be able to see though his physical attributes and feel his good heart. But he does not do the same, well atleast upto a point. It is really remarkable that the film despite being light- hearted has us asking such questions. Comedy need not be mindless all the time. More than anything the biggest achievement of this film is showcasing the life of someone who has all the while been shown mostly as one of the two - a loser to be mocked at or a loser to be sympathized with. These characters can be protagonists and they can be protagonists of entertaining films as well.

The film does have its fair share of cliches. The episode involving the girl who runs a clinic for hair fixing and the climax episode involving the peon and his wife come close to being a little melodramatic. But even in these scenes there is an admirable restraint.

Bottomline:

A soulful comedy sounds like an oxymoron right? Because we hardly have such films. Ondu Motteya Kathe achieves this with aplomb.

Rating: 3.5/5