Hondisi Bareyiri - Review

Hondisi Bareyiri by Ramenhalli Jagannatha is one of those movies which caught me by surprise this year. Hondisi Bareyiri indeed had generated hype when it was released yet I didn’t have many expectations from it. However, after viewing it on Prime, I felt I should have watched it on the big screen and supported this well-made movie.

“Accept Life as it comes” is the theme of Hondisi Bareyiri (HB) and sticks to the same throughout without wasting time on over-the-top depictions of its characters. There’s nothing special about the story, in fact, it’s grounded and more real than most of the stories seen on screen. There’s no protagonist spilling out mass dialogues by the minute and being Mr.Perfect, instead, we have the lead characters struggling to get a job after college!

This realistic depiction of life is what makes HB stand out! Real life is boring, monotonous, and confusing and this movie is definitely not all that, instead, it captures this essence in the right fashion through its intriguing narration and music. “Bhavave hogi Baa” has been playing continuously on my phone since I heard it.

HB begins with the five leads meeting after a long time for Ranjith’s (Naveen Shankar) wedding. And the first half is solely dedicated to the breezy college days and takes you on a nostalgic ride. The second half is where the movie really establishes itself from the other ventures in this genre.All five leads have been given equal significance and even the character of Ranjith missing entirely after the first half comes back with his own arc just before the conclusion of the movie to embody its theme.

It’s Ranjith, who is the heart of this movie. The character develops from an angry young man who can’t look at his past without disgust and rage to someone who accepts life as it is, it’s quite a journey and it’s all here, in its complete glory.

Special mention to Praveen Tej’s Jagan, to whom most of us can relate (probably), his somber and subtle performance catches your eye. His acceptance of moving on after a rejection is the relatable part that I mentioned and it is actually beautiful. Here we don’t have someone becoming a global superstar and getting back the love he wanted, instead, we have someone who simply wishes “Congratulations on your wedding” on Facebook for the girl he faced rejection from and moves on. Anirudh’s Tiger definitely shines with his great comic timing. And Shri’s Kummi and Aishani’s Saniha too steal the show in their scenes.

Kudos to the clever editing and screenplay as well. Scenes are built in exemplary fashion and jumps from character to character and their lives at the right speed. And the placement of Ranjith’s arc just before the climax is what takes the cake.

The only hindrance which I saw in this movie was the preachy ending which wraps up things in jet speed, and the resolution of the carefully built story arcs of Jagan, Kummi, and Saniha seems rushed. The run time should have definitely been increased by another 10 minutes at least, as HB concludes albeit bitterly and hastily throwing the message “Accept life as it comes” on the face.

Barring that, it’s the best Kannada movie I’ve seen this year. To mention again, it has no stunts, songs shot in abroad, guns, or empires built on blood and definitely, there are no last-minute cameos from superstars yelling dialogues written by five-year-olds.

I’d recommend more of you watch this beautiful movie and support such ventures instead of complaining that there are no good movies in Kannada.