Title – Simharoopini, Producer – KM Nanjundeshwara, Story, screenplay, lyrics, and direction – Kinnal Raj, Cinematography – Kiran Kumar, Music – Akash Parva
Cast – Yashaswini, Yash Shetty, Dinesh Mangaluru, Suman, Ninasam Ashwath, Harish Roy, Dina, Divya Alur, Ankitha Gowda, Vijay Chendur, Tabala Nani, Kushi Basrur, and others.
The very popular lyricist of Kannada cinema, Kinnal Raj, has worked out a good strategy to keep the audience engaged, especially in the rural areas of Karnataka. For him, producer KM Nanjundeshwara has given fine support to make it a decent divine film for the believers in Goddess Maramma Devi.
The presiding deity of the producer, Nanjundeshwara, has thirty percent of real-life happenings in Simharoopini, and the rest is the imagination of debut director Kinnal Raj.
However, an authentic film on Maramma Devi (one of the Avataras of Goddess Parvathi) is effectively narrated. The genesis and avatar of Maramma have not been told so far on the silver screen. In the form of Harikatha, the life sketch that is explained in the flashback of the second half makes it compelling to watch.
In addition to the filmmaking and presentation, the impact that was seen on a few characters while shooting is also focused on at the end of this film.
The first half of Simharoopini gives both the theist and atheist versions, and when the divine saga of ‘Maramma Devi’ is narrated, the audience becomes very cautious in the theaters.
In a nutshell, the birth of a fifth girl child is considered a big boon by the parents, especially the father of the child, Ninasam Ashwath. This fifth girl child, Kalyani, grew up in a very decent background and faces the insult of life from her husband, who ditches her to the core. As revenge, Kalyani, with divine power, retaliates against her husband. That is an interesting climax for the audiences in the theaters.
The first half is a regular clash of village chieftains and innocent villagers. It is the second half that opens up the main theme of the film and grabs attention.
Among the actors, Yashaswini as Maramma Devi is quite impressive. Two popular anchors today, Divya Alur and Ankitha Gowda, have given their best. Dinesh Mangaluru, of course, brings terror with his voice. Yash Shetty, in a submissive and nayavanchak role, is quite good. Ninasam Ashwath has done a decent role in this film. Harish Roy, Suman, Tabla Nani, and Vijay Chendur give admirable support.
The musical scores and lyrics (Kinnal Raj again) are the trump cards. The production values are quite impressive. The length of the film, 125 minutes, is quite OK.
The cinematography adds further lift to the quality of the film Simharoopini. This is a must-watch film for all divine film lovers.
