For a long time, Kannada cinema has witnessed the revival of movies which appreciate the beauty of rural life. Cinematographer Keethan Poojary Kerebete does justice to this backdrop located in Malnad by portraying its lush green landscapes in all their natural beauty. The movie is directed by Rajguru and centres around love stories as well as revenge tales.
Kerebete also sees the return of Rajahamsa actor Gowrishankar who besides acting as one of its characters has produced it; he worked on the screenplay and dialogues too. As an actor, he anchors an intense drama that explores deep emotions within simplicity of rural life. Apart from reflecting traditional fishing sport native to region, story also brings out essence of its environs through Kerebete. It is a gripping experience with casteism being addressed in a suspense thriller alongside a tale about young love, but heavy themes may not blend well with narrative however it is not clear if they do so or not.
The film tells us about Naga’s (Gowrishankar) life a rugged individual who often gets into trouble for smuggling wood. Starting off with his release from jail sets stage for enthralling account on what happened earlier on in his life. Amidst navigating through complexities shown via flashbacks, we see him participate in Kerebete- traditional fishing sport that symbolizes culture of his village, nevertheless peaceful waters turn bloody when Naga along with his mother get entangled into bitter fight over ancestral property facing discrimination since she comes from oppressed caste.
In course of these challenges he finds solace in Meena (Bindu Shivaram), but her parents particularly father (Gopalkrishna Deshpande) strongly oppose their romance leading to series confrontations that further heighten tensions.
This takes place when Meena disappears without trace leaving behind shocking revelation hence Naga’s life takes dark turn leading him into path of vengeance and self reflection. While grappling with societal injustices he confronts his past demons while making unlikely alliances; will he find justice or reach dead end?
Kerebete starts as a suspense thriller within romantic roots hence it keeps viewers at the edge of their seats, but at its heart it underscores love themes, casteism and social norms that sheds light on marginalized rural communities.
The fishing sport is captured beautifully by director being used as backdrop for the story with Kerebete showcasing unmatched scenic beauty of Malnad. However, more attention should have been given to strengthening screenplay; still such highs lows are so extreme that they feel somewhat out of tune thereby potentially breaking flow narrative. Though screenplay falters occasionally wandering sometimes not having required pace especially towards later part where film injects much needed energy into narrative culminating satisfying ending tying up loose ends flashback in second half though initially confusing ultimately enhances plot revealing various truths emotions which propel furthering story love mystery disappearance finding truth end all contribute towards intense drama this film explores thematically.
Gowrishankar, with his portrayal of Naga, shows how a person can be good and bad at the same time. He moves from compassion to ruthlessness smoothly. Still, he could have avoided using offensive language and showing some characters in certain behaviors too often; this would have given room for different heroes’ acts to be presented as more complicated than they were.
This is authenticity shown by Gowrishankar who plays Naga using the Malnad dialect which makes everything about Naga look real and close to home. Bindu Shivaram does not fail either being new in acting she gives it her best shot while Gopal Deshpande does justice portraying himself as Bindu’s father where Sampath Maitreya comes in handy portraying a police officer then we have Harini acting as mother to Nagas but Rakesh Pujari should be mentioned more since without him there would never have been any rural setting for this movie.
In spite of its weaknesses, the film Kerebete still manages to show us that love can be hard but also rewarding sometimes even when people think there is no hope left; it also shows how strong someone’s faith should be towards their redemption because everyone deserves another chance. The only problem is whether people will understand Nagas’ goodness and why he acted ruthlessly or not? Can they accept such an ending particularly based on what Bindu did considering what the main character went through?
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