Ravike Prasanga movie review: Well-intentioned tale falls flat in execution

Geetha Bharathi Bhat's film about a designer blouse and shattered dreams is more than it lets on, but it's not the most entertaining

Sampath plays Chandra, the tailor at the centre of all the mess in Ravike Prasanga

Ravike Prasanga

Ravike Prasanga story: Sanvi Sampaje (Geetha Bharathi Bhat), a 28-year-old, unmarried young woman’s desire to wear a stylish blouse to meet a prospective groom goes up in smoke, when the outfit fails to fit her, following some miscommunication between her and tailor Chandranna (Sampath Maitreya). With her dream of marrying an NRI and settling abroad shattered, Sanvi decides to take Chandranna to court and seek justice.

Ravike Prasanga review: Any woman who has ever worn a sari will vouch for the fact that finding the right tailor to stitch a well-fitted blouse is far more important than the nine yards itself. It’s not an easy task and one that will be strewn with hurdles before tasting success. But once this mission is accomplished, it is the start of a relationship that is unlikely to be broken no matter what. It does not matter if there is an issue of geographical distance or deadlines, a good tailor is not someone a woman will let go off easily.

When a tale of a blouse became the centre of a film, it aroused intrigue, but does Ravike Prasanga deliver? Director Santhosh Kodenkeri’s film, which is based on a story written by his wife Pavana, is well intentioned. The problem is that it gets to its actual message only in the last 10-15 minutes. Until then it is about the protagonist Sanvi, who’s seen some 30-odd prospective grooms and is gearing up for the next.

This time around, she is really invested in making sure he is ‘the one’, and decides to even try and get into better shape. Geetha Bharathi Bhat, who plays Sanvi, was on a personal fitness journey at the time of the making of Ravike Prasanga, which worked for the purpose of the narrative, but finds its way into the film and takes up much screen time too. Despite her best efforts, Sanvi fails to fit into the blouse, and she takes out her frustration on the tailor and drags him to court.

It is at this point that Santhosh and Pavana reveal the true core of Ravike Prasanga. It’s not a big issue over something as small as blouse; instead, it is about society and how judgemental people get. There’s a place and time for everything, even for a blouse, it seems. You should not be wearing a deep-cut blouse that’s barely held together with a tiny hook or tie-strap and exposing skin, when you are headed to a temple or to the vegetable vendor.

More importantly, the film tries to shine light on societal ‘norm’ that finds a woman well and truly settled only if she is married and not if she is independent and able to stand on her own feet. There is just too much fluff leading up to this that Rakesh Maiya’s impassioned courtroom speech does not have the desired effect. It does not help that the consumer court proceedings shown in the film are way to lax and cinematic.

Ravike Prasanga verdict: Ravike Prasanga has a good message, but it takes too long to get to the point and does so in not the most entertaining fashion.

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