At a time when cheap comedies rule the Bollywood and regional cinema industry, the Tulu comedy ‘Amet Asal, Emet Kusal’ which is the adaptation of William Shakespeare’s play - ‘The Comedy of Errors,’ is quite refreshing.
With the no-nonsense humour, accompanied by brilliant acting by the two male protagonists, the movie will offer a roller coaster ride to the Tulu cinema buffs. For the first time ever in Tulu cinema industry, two protagonists have played the duel roles.
The story revolves around two pairs of identical twins who were accidentally separated at their birth. The first pair of twins become the masters and another pair become their servants and live their lives in two different places. The confusion prevails when one of the master-servant duo who are in to theft profession land up in the same town where another pair of master-servant duo resides. A series of humourous incidents takes place as the movie progresses. As the saying goes, all that begins well ends well, the movie too ends on a positive note as both the pairs of identical twins reunite, only to know that their identical appearance created all the chaoses.
Nowhere in the movie the audience would strongly feel the influence of the English play “The Comedy of Errors,” as the movie has been made to suit the local audience. Be it the emotion and concern with which the father of the twins who later become masters adopts his servant’s twin children, or the three women performing religious ritual to expel the ghosts, the scenes are picturised to meet the demands and sentiments of the local audience.
Several of the incidents in the Shakespeare’s play have been willfully avoided in the Tulu version to comfort the mass audience. The two hour movie is a good entertainer except for a few scenes which could have been avoided. The Comedy of Errors too was not devoid of criticisms especially for the character of the over-sentimental wife of the master and the master unnecessarily beating his servant. A few changes in this context in Tulu version could have been welcomed.
So is the climax of the movie which appears a little abrupt and wrapped up in hurry.
The actions perhaps supercedes the dialogues in ‘Amet Asal...’ All the characters including Jyothish Shetty (plays the duel role of the master), Bhojaraj Vamanjoor, Saikrishna have done a good job. But it is Navin D Padil as the servant who emerges the real hero of the movie with his natural and flawless performance. Vijayakumar Kodialbail and M Saikrishna have written the dialogues and provided justice to their work. The two song and dance sequences (lyrics by Shashiraj Kavoor) are in the lines of regional language cinemas.
Director says
What is most commendable is the effort of the young director Ranjan Raaghu Shetty from Mumabi, an alumni of Subhash Ghai’s Whistling Woods International, who has done the work with promptness. The new director has succeeded in his very first attempt to hit the big screen and appears promising.
Speaking to City Herald, he said that the very fact that Tulu is his mother tongue prompted him to make his debut in Tulu cinema industry. “The movie is a complete family entertainer and I along with my friend Soorya Menon have put a lot of effort. The budget of the movie is around Rs 45 lakh and we have nowhere compromised with the quality,” he says.
He was all smiles to receive appreciation and positive response from the audience during the first day first show.