Kannada cinema has had directors approaching comedy in different ways. If one looks at the start of the millennium, Yogaraj Bhat thrived with his refreshing dialogues that reflected the carefree attitude of youngsters. Not many could replicate the magic Bhat weaved over the college-going crowd.
Guruprasad arrived as a surprise and gave a distinct touch to his two dark comedies starring Jaggesh: Mata and Eddelu Manjunatha. In the early 90s, people enjoyed the unmistakable flavour of comedy in Anant Nag’s Ganesha series. And in the 80s, Kashinath made heads turn with his uncompromising approach to sex comedies.
Powder (Kannada)
Apart from some filmmakers who came as a welcome change to revive the genre, comedy in Kannada cinema in the last two decades has suffered from stereotypical handling of humour. Sadhu Kokila continues to play unbearable loud characters while not so long ago, Rangayana Raghu would get wasted in poorly-written, exaggerated humour.
The dry spell of good comedy dramas in the Kannada film industry ended with Hostel Hudugaru Bekagiddare in 2023, a campus drama that broke new grounds in production. And hot on its heels, Powder, directed by Janardhan Chikkanna and written by Deepak Venkateshan isn’t your regular comedy drama.
Sharmiela Mandre in ‘Powder’. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Soorya (Diganth) works at a supermarket in Mysuru, and he shares a room with Karan (Anirudh Acharya). Soorya is trying to woo back his ex Nithya (Dhanya Ramkumar), a nurse. The trio learns about the presence of drugs worth crores stuffed inside talcum powder containers inside Soorya’s store.
ALSO READ:Watch: Rangayana Raghu interview: I love roles that make me think
They decide to turn rich overnight by selling the drugs, and that brings them into confrontation with drug dealer Annachi (Rangayana Raghu) and his rival Sulemaan (Gopalkrishna Deshpande). The drug racket has an international connection, with a drug lord from China calling the shots.
The fact that the humour is generated from the idiosyncratic behaviour of the film’s characters rather than overt reliance on dialogues is a plus. In fact, the film doesn’t go overboard with its dialogues, and Trilok Trivikram’s witty lines provide the right effect thanks to their perfect timing in the scenes. Despite suffering from a pacing issue, Powder is never boring, and successfuly swings like a pendulum between quirky and adult comedy.
Sharmeila Mandre is striking with her action moves as ‘Makeup’ Mallika, a dangerous assassin who can kill people with makeup materials. Rangayana Raghu and Gopalkrishna Deshpande shine as the poles-apart drug dealers shine, with the former being hilarious with his Tamil-mixed Kannada.
Even if Powder doesn’t insult the idea of a comic caper with excessive ideas, it fails to be a laugh riot. The less-eventful first half feels like a lost opportunity, even if Diganth salvages it with his depiction of a naive youngster. Powder springs to life in the second half, and the episode showing the hunt for the talcum powder containers is a hoot. Nagabhushana, as the spoof of a popular Kannada YouTuber, delivers the knockout punch.
Director Janardhan Chikkanna and his technical teams triumph in the last 15 minutes. Expectedly, characters hallucinate, and bizarre things begin to unfold. The director’s visual style — helped by cinematographers Advaitha Gurumurthy and Shanthi Sagar H G — to present this psychedelic world is impressive. Even if the impact of the visual effects is a bit overwhelming, you are left astounded at the efforts behind it.
Powder is currently running in theatres
