Cast: Balu Nagendra, Divya Uruduga, Chirashree Anchan, Raghu Pandeshwar
Director: Aravind Kaushik
Ratings: 1.5 stars
You’ve probably heard of the popular fable about a little boy who cried ‘wolf’, with an intent to raise a false alarm. Sadly, the two hour Huliraaya pretty much paints a similar picture. After succumbing to ‘bad’ injuries by this Huliraaya (meaning the tiger man), for two-plus hours; this ‘tiger’ in question reminds you of a recent commercial of a biscuit with a similar brand name — wherein naughty little ones set the villagers into a panic mode, alerting that a tiger is lurking, by wailing ‘sher aaya.. sher aaya..’, only to find a biscuit packet with a tiger on it towards the end of the ad! But, why compare a biscuit to this film? Well, the reason is simple — the plot bears an uncanny resemblance to the theme of the biscuit advertisement — there’s a lot of noise (hype in this case) before making the kill, but on the day of its hunt, it turns to be nothing but a ‘paper tiger’. It even lacks teeth, head and a proper ‘tale’!
This flick is passable, and certainly does not make the cut — to be placed in the ranks of a slew of recent ‘new wave’ Kannada cinemas. Themed around an abduction tale with efforts made to bring about an innovative peg, the depiction of the plight of an illiterate lad, who migrates to a big city in search of a decent livelihood fails to pack a punch.
Though at the outset, the script appears to be sensible; the narration and diverted plots completely ruin it. The cinematography is commendable, as natural lighting has been used to good effect. The extensive coverage of the wild is indeed a feast to the eyes. The lead actors have managed to put up a good show. The protagonist Balu Nagendra as Suresaa is a saving grace. But truth be told, you may require a ‘tiger’ balm to survive the onslaught! ‘Migration’, wild human tales and innocent abductions are topics which have been done to death, and Huliraaya has nothing new to offer.
Unlike other celluloid jungle men, the protagonist here is in love with the daughter of a watchman. When forced out of the jungle, he migrates to the city through a broker, only to return soon.On his ladylove’s father’s insistence to get financially stable before marrying his daughter, he returns to city. But this time, as a changed man, and so on before ‘it ends’. There is an abduction angle to the story, which is quite similar to that of Operation Alamelamma, but with a ‘wild twist’ to it. The only saving grace is that the movie is set against a verdant backdrop, as this toothless tiger only roars and kills none.
