Sundays with Dr. Rajkumar series resumes with Sampattige Saval (Challenge to Wealth). I am seriously committed to reviewing a film every sunday and will try my best to keep to this routine.
The enduring image is from an opening scene of Sampattige Saval, when Rajkumar comes on the screen sitting on a buffalo, the much maligned animal, whose slow gait and lack of intelligence are legendary. The song he sings then is perhaps one of the most popular Kannada filmsongs of all time; here is a rough prose translation:
“Even if anyone were to shout and even if the town were to fight,
your peace isn’t disturbed, O buffalo, you are matchless.
without fearing summer and winter, rains and thunder, you move forward ………….”
“You are helpful by nature, cooperative towards humans,
even if you eat waste, you offer us milk.
But people, even after having drank milk, vomit poison,
(being) always angry, always vengeful.
Hence our country is like this.”
…..
“Animals are superior in character, human being is inferior,
he cannot help anyone, nor does he tolerate others who live well.
Truth isn’t respected, deceit is worshiped,
this is the path, this is virtue!
Then where is the fear of elders and teachers?”
….
“Even if anyone were to shout and even if the town were to fight,
your peace isn’t disturbed, O buffalo, you are matchless.
without fearing summer and winter, rains and thunder, you move forward ………….”
The sight of Rajkumar on a buffalo (instead of a typical entrance on horseback, singing praises of Kannada land, culture and people) not only shocks the audience, but also nicely captures his preference to buffalo over his fellow villagers, thus setting up a critique of human nature and village society. In a modern society where aggressiveness, ambition and speed are valued and progress even by deceiving others and while being untruthful is seen as inevitable, Rajkumar praises virtues of buffalo, thus proclaiming it as a model for humans to follow.
Made in 1976, Sampattige Saval is a landmark film. Majority of Rajkumar films possess at least one distinguishing feature; in this case, however, the film is distinguished by its rural setting and the theme of exploitation of villagers by landlord-moneylender. Unlike Rajkumar’s other ‘village’ films, (most notably Bangarada Manushya) Sampattige Saval does not have a nation building agenda; rather, it is an angry film that seeks to tackle inequality that haunts the village society. The simple (almost simplistic) and straight forward plot tells the story of a brave young man, Virabhadra, who stands up to Siddappa, the oppressive strong man of the village and his arrogant daughter, Durgi. Based on a popular company theater play (if my memory serves me right), the film was a milestone for its songs and Manjula’s stunning emergence as a star.
The film focuses on the lives of two fatherless brothers, who are brought up by their mother. Their father had worked for Siddappa, but the latter refused to help this family in their hour of need, after the father died. His callous attitude turned young Virabhadra into a rebel and he refused to work for Siddappa, unlike his his docile older brother, who not only worked for him but also believed in Siddappa’s explanation (that the refusal to help the brothers in their childhood was to build their character and make them realize the value of work and money) and further, accepted a cash gift-loan from Siddappa for his marriage.
From such a beginning, through playful interactions between Virabhadra and Durgi mixed with serious altercations between Virabhadra and Siddappa, tension is slowly built between the two rivals. Siddappa accuses Virabhadra of attempting to molest her in order to discredit him in the village and to force his family to throw him out. Virabhadra responds by storming into Siddappa’s house and threatens to make the charge true by molesting Durgi in public. However, his good nature wouldn’t allow him to stoop to their level and he storms out, issuing a challenge to Siddappa’s wealth.
This was the moment of transformation for Durgi, who is known for her arrogance and foul mouth throughout the village. She leaves her father’s home and follows Virabhadra into the forest outside the village, where he lives alone in an abandoned building. Siddappa, though, requires a final confrontation. When he attempts to molest Virabhadra’s sister-in-law, Virabhadra rescues her, thrashes Siddappa and hands him over to the police.
Interestingly, the village itself is very generic and could be located anywhere; the language used and the geographical/social description of the village have nothing specific about them. In this regard, the filmmakers are influenced by the progressive, leftist Pragatishila school of literature, which identified (feudal) exploitation as the primary contradiction within rural society. In the film, except for the oppressive practices of a moneylender-landlord, who wants to turn all villagers into his dependent, none of the other problems of village society - be it caste inequality or development - are explored. The identity and social class origin of each character is determined by the wealth they possess; even Siddappa’s caste is never mentioned and when he wants to find a groom for his daughter, his goal is to find someone from his class. Caste, for all practical purposes, may not have existed in this village at all. Yet, the redemptive possibilities exist within the village, both in the form of Bhadra himself and the village priest. When the priest is performing a ritual in Bhadra’s name, Siddappa and his entourage arrive at the temple and insist on being served first. Durgi asserts that Siddappa is the father of the village itself, and hence he should get precedence. This led the priest to proclaim that lord Rama is the father of all and continue the ritual.
While the story is stereotypical, characters are what is significant about the film. Virabhadra, like all typical Rajkumar characters, is an ideal son, brother, brother-in-law, and friend. Both the name and personality are meant to invoke the spirit of the puranic Virabhadra, Siva’s terrible son created for the purpose of killing Dakshabrahma; in this instance, while Virabhadra is depicted as playful and good, the message clearly is that he could at will embody the puranic Virabhadra’s terror to face up to evil. Yet he is also humanized to be a loving, caring, gentle soul, who can control and channel his rage constructively. In fact, a critical confrontation is triggered when he forcibly takes away Siddappa’s bullock cart, to bring a doctor to treat a poor woman; he does not resist the beating that Siddappa inflicts on him for that crime, yet he believes his action was justified. On an earlier occasion, he misses his brother’s wedding to help an old man.
Durgi is a sharp contrast to Virabhadra’s character and a worthy adversary; she is abusive, short tempered and selfish, proud of her father’s wealth and power. Another enduring image of the film is her walk through the village, abusing all those she comes across. Her moment of transformation occurs when Virabhadra refuses to exercise his power over her and molest her in her father’s presence. For her, who had lived all her life either exercising power or witnessing the exericising of power, Virabhadra’s basic decency offers yet another conception of power.
If Rajkumar (Virabhadra) enters the screen sitting on a buffalo singing its praise, Manjula (Durgi), wearing all her ornaments, walks through the streets of the village towards the village tank to fetch water. She abuses all those who comes across: man washing his buffalo and three other women who are washing clothes, utensils and bathing. Not only she asserts her status in the village as the daughter of the richman, she liberally uses colloquial Kannada abuses to address her audience: bevarsi, bikanasi, tatagitti and darvesi.
Even Durgi’s opening song expresses her personality:
“I am an uncommon woman, unequalled
In the path I walk, all stand folding hands”
Durgi further claims that through her speech and money, she could cause fear among the villagers or buy them easily. It is that arrogance which Bhadra challenges throughout the film. His challenge is to the wealth, which is the source of Siddappa’s power.
While the coarse and edgy rural Kannada provides a different flavor to the film, dialogues and especially, songs, which advance the narrative effectively, define the characters effectively apart from carrying the narrative forward.
Cast: Dr. Rajkumar, Manjula, Vajramuni, Balakrishna, Rajashankar.
Direction: A. V. Sheshagiri Rao
Original Story: B.P. Dhattaragi
Music: G.K.Venkatesh
Songs: Chi. Udayashankar and R.N Jayagopal
Script and screenplay: Chi. Udayashankar
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