277. Raghavendra Stores; movie review

 

RAGHAVENDRA STORES

Cert TBA

102 mins

BBFC advice: TBA

Is Raghavendra Stores meant to be a Carry-On style comedy, an expose of political corruption or a case study for adoption?

I am afraid it left me more than a tad confused.

The movie is a vehicle for Jaggesh, who has appeared in Kannada-language movies since 1982.

At 60, he is a month older than me, so I was surprised when his character, Hayavadana, is told by his friend ((Ravishankar Gowda). to "Remember you are at the penultimate stage of youth".

It turns out that the grandfather is playing a chap who is 40 and has not yet married and is also told by a proepsctive bride: "You look very young."

I couldn't work out whether this was a joke. It must have been because although Jaggesh has a mane of black hair and is not too stiff in song and dance numbers, nobody would mistake him for being 20 years younger.

I digress. 

Hayavadana is a hard-working cook in his father's hotel and is an all-around good guy who provides his left-over food to a nearby orphanage.

But he is yet to find love. Indeed, he is a virgin.

Yep, he is a good-looking chap, has plenty of charm and charisma but has not even stolen a kiss.

Thus, much of Santhosh Ananddram's film surrounds his need for a wife and some long-delayed bedroom activity.

The subject of his affection is a rather nerdy singer (Shwetha Srivatsav) who has already jilted an arranged groom seconds before they were due to wed.

The movie is overflowing with innuendo, reminding me of old man Sid James's inappropriate chatting up of the much younger Barbara Windsor in those Carry-On movies.

And then, out of nowhere, it chucks in attacks on the corrupt political establishment and rounds up promoting adoption.

It is a very strange mix that surely only fans of Jaggesh would really enjoy.

I don't know enough of his work to be able to see past a 60-year-old playing someone nearly half his age whether or not that is meant to be part of the comedy.

But I didn't get Raghavendra Stores

Reasons to watch: Jaggesh fans might enjoy

Reasons to avoid: Out-of-date comedy

Laughs: None

Jumps: None

Vomit: Yes

Nudity: None

Overall rating: 4.5/10

Did you know? Jaggesh is a Member of Parliament for Karnataka in India's upper house since 2022 and the spokesperson of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

The final word. Jaggesh: "This is a very special film for me because they have given me a new type of role. After a certain age, we always think we will not be able to pull off certain roles but this is not true. Dr Rajkumar was a leading man at 78!" Film Companion

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