Kiragoorina Gayyaligalu

Starring: Shwetha Srivatsav, Kishore, Achyuth Kumar, Sukratha Wagle.
Dir by Suman Kittur
Rating: ****

Kiragoorina Gayyaligalu is an adaptation of the eponymous short story by  Poornachandra Tejaswi, and rendering it into film would seem like a daunting task. That explains why Suman Kittur’s Twitter account is full of accolades. It’s the story of a village, or rather its brazen young wives, told endearingly. Lively dialogues, nifty camerawork and great acting make Kiragoorina remarkable. There aren’t any cliches, rather the earthy, honest-to-goodness ways of the village folk and some good, old rustic cussing (many object to some muted dialogues) are worked out with an eye for detail. For instance, the arrival of a jeep and the scene at the police station is masterly. That’s also the place you’d hear the film’s few English words (‘muldru’, or murder, and ‘pfix’) that weigh a tonne when spoken. That’s because the story is told through the slang and dialect of a southern Karnataka village. Kiragoorina holds your attention with its easy story-telling—there’s an episode each from the lives of some protagonists—though there may be a couple of scenes that lag. What really sets this apart, aside from the direction, is its cast with its top-notch acting. As for the pugnacity of Kiragooru’s women, nothing more needs to be said than it’s worth a watch.