Madevappa who hails from a tiny village Basupura, was a truck driver until he lost a leg in an accident. Now he works in a local flour mill to support his family that includes his ageing mom, his infant girl, his school going boy and his wife Devakka who sells homemade rotis so that they can make ends meet. An unprecedented visit from the deputy commissioner breaks to them the surprising news that the chief minister would be staying for a night in their shack, which is about to changes their fortunes – but is it for the better or the worse? That’s what’s answered in the rest of the movie.
Language:
Kannada
Running Time:
98 min
Rating:
U
Release date:
25 April 2014
Directed by:
P. Sheshadri
Produced by:
Basantkumar Patil
Written by:
P. Sheshadri
Starring:
Nivedita Jain
Santosh Uppina
Shanthabai Joshi
Dattatreya HG
Shashikumar Nayaka
Music by:
V. Manohar
Shot by:
Ashok V. Raman
Editing by:
B. S. Kemparaju

What’s Hot

  • The director P Sheshadri has managed to make a movie with a core that is based on the issue of discrimination and politics, yet still provided intelligent treatment to the screenplay so as to not reveal that core until the last few minutes. This revelation is truly a notable highlight in the proceedings which keep the audience guessing while holding them engaged.
  • Devakka’s character is surely the central force holding together the narration. Niveditha who essays Devakka has made a noteworthy contribution to the success of the story with her dedication and commitment. There is a scenes where she is shown making rotis while drenched in sweat, yet patiently answers her son’s rants which makes the scene so realistic and credible.
  • The movie showcases a wide range of impactful characters like an accident-affected lead man, his ageing mother with a fading eyesight, his school going son with big desires, his faithful and strong-willed wife with each one of them given good space to establish their presence. Even the smaller ones of news hungry media persons, greedy common men and cunning government officials have been played by competent actors.
  • The story is a pure attempt to record the ordinary events surrounding a politically motivated agenda and more importantly to captures the lesser known consequences of such an event without being judgemental or putting the blame on anyone. All this merged into a lively presentation creates this bold and courageous movie on social and political stigma.

What’s Not

  • Given the bold theme of the movie, the dialogues penned were not impactful enough at the crucial scenes like those when the family interacts with the officials or the CM himself. This toned down the impact of these scenes a few notches at the expense of probably helping the movie stay out of unwanted trouble.

Badges

Screened at

The Chennai International Film Festival (CIFF) 2014

The Chennai International Film Festival (CIFF) 2014 scheduled from Dec 18 -25 is an annual film festival organised by a film society, the Indo Cine Appreciation Foundation (ICAF), with the support of the government of Tamil Nadu, the South Indian Film Chamber of Commerce and the Film Federation of India.

Event Info

Date of Screening : 23-Dec-2014
Venue and Time : Woodlands Symphony, 2.45 PM

About

Verdict

Verdict Stamp

Scores of events happen every day in our country - A lot of them concerning politics and politicians. While the media coverage is restricted to the event itself, December-1 is an outstanding effort to capture the ground work leading up to one such event and the impact it could have on the unassuming common men! Throw in a sensitive socio-political backdrop to the mix and you get to watch a truly captivating movie!