Baalu Jenu

Baalu Jenu (transl. Life is honey) is a 1976 Indian Kannada-language drama film directed by Balan and Kunigal Nagabhushan. It is a remake of the 1976 Tamil film Mayangukiral Oru Maadhu. The film stars Aarathi, Gangadhar, Ramgopal, Rajinikanth, Udaya Chandrika and Pandari Bai. In Baalu Jenu, a married woman must try to keep a one-night stand that she had in college a secret from her husband, and thwart a persistent blackmailer intent on collecting money from her to keep quite about it. It was released on 10 December 1976, and became a commercial success.

Baalu Jenu
Lobby card
Kannadaಬಾಳು ಜೇನು
Directed byBalan
Kunigal Nagabhushan
Produced byK. R. Ravichandran
Screenplay byNagabhushan
Based onMayangukiral Oru Maadhu
StarringAarathi
Gangadhar
Ramgopal
Rajinikanth
Udaya Chandrika
Pandari Bai
Music byG. K. Venkatesh
CinematographyT. M. Sundara Babu
Edited byP. K. Krishnan
Production
company
S G S Films
Release date
  • 10 December 1976 (1976-12-10)
Running time
131 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageKannada

Plot

Geetha, an oestrogen-charged college student in Mysore, has a one-night stand with Chandru, whose advances she succumbed to. Chandru is arrested on suspicion of abetting his father in smuggling and is sentenced to five years in prison. Geetha futilely tries to find Chandru and then consumes poison, fearing she might be pregnant. Her hostel roommate Revathi and a doctor save her on time. After Geetha graduates, her marriage is arranged; to her surprise, the prospective groom's elder sister is the same doctor who saved her life and knows her secret. The doctor wholeheartedly recommends Geetha for her brother Ravi, a wealthy businessman. Ravi and Geetha get married and have a child.

Some years later, Geetha runs into Revathi at a sari shop. Revathi is married to Vasu, a photographer, and they too have a child. Vasu is the photographer who earlier blackmailed Chandru's father as he has pictures of him in flagrante delicto. Revathi and Vasu visit Ravi and Geetha for a meal. Vasu takes photographs of the family. While developing the pictures, Vasu recalls Geetha's features; he had earlier clicked Geetha and Chandru during their amorous tryst and had been blackmailing Chandru before the latter got arrested.

Chandru is released from prison, and to Geetha's horror, Ravi hires him to be their driver. Vasu begins blackmailing Geetha and his financial demands increase. He also has altercations with Chandru. Geetha cannot cope with the mental and financial strain; she has a breakdown and is hospitalised. Chandru raids Vasu's darkroom, hoping to retrieve the damning negatives. In the ensuing fracas, Revathi bursts in and threatens to immolate herself and her child. Faced with the threat of losing his family before his very eyes, Vasu destroys the incriminating negatives and redeems himself. At the hospital, Ravi tells Geetha that he had full knowledge of the Chandru affair all along.

Cast

Production

Baalu Jenu is a remake of the 1976 Tamil film Mayangukiral Oru Maadhu.[3] It was directed by Balan and Kunigal Nagabhushan, and produced by K. R. Ravichandran under S G S Films. Co-director Nagabhushan also wrote the screenplay. Cinematography was handled by T. M. Sundara Babu, and editing by P. K. Krishnan.[4] Rajinikanth, after watching Thengai Srinivasan's performance in the original film as a blackmailing photographer, expressed his desire to reprise that role and duly got it.[5] Baalu Jenu was also the first film where a character played by Rajinikanth had a major onscreen fight sequence.[6]

Themes

Film critic Naman Ramachandran noted numerous parallels between Rajinikanth's character Vasu in Baalu Jenu and his character Prasad in Moondru Mudichu (1976). He also compared it to many other earlier Rajinikanth films such as Apoorva Raagangal (1975), Munithaayi (a segment of the 1976 anthology film Katha Sangama), Anthuleni Katha (1976) and Moondru Mudichu due to the fact that they focused on a central female character.[7]

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by G. K. Venkatesh, with lyrics by Kunigal Nagabhushanam and R. N. Jayagopal.[8]

Track listing
No.TitleLyricsSinger(s)Length
1."Aase Aralide"Kunigal NagabhushanS. Janaki3:45
2."Madhura Balu Madhura"R. N. JayagopalK. J. Yesudas, S. Janaki4:38
3."Onde Ondu Katheya Heluve"R. N. JayagopalS. Janaki4:27
4."Samsaarada Santoshave"R. N. JayagopalS. P. Balasubrahmanyam4:25

Release

Baalu Jenu was released on 10 December 1976.[9] The film became a commercial success,[10] and Rajinikanth went on to play more negative roles in films.[11]

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See also

References
  1. Ramachandran 2014, p. 54.
  2. Ramachandran 2014, p. 55.
  3. National Film Archive of India [@NFAIOfficial] (11 December 2018). "A lobby card for #Kannada film #BaluJenu, one of the early films of #FaceOfTheWeek @rajinikanth. He played the character with negative shades. A remake of #Tamil film #MayangurikalOruMadhu, it was also remade in #Telugu as #YavanamKatesindi and in #Hindi as #Bezubaan" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 14 December 2018 – via Twitter.
  4. "Baalu Jenu (ಬಾಳು ಜೇನು)". Chiloka. Archived from the original on 14 December 2018. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
  5. Raman, Mohan V. (20 October 2012). "He walked tall in tinsel town". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 3 November 2016. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
  6. Ramachandran 2014, p. 56.
  7. Ramachandran 2014, pp. 54-56.
  8. "Baalu Jenu". JioSaavn. Reliance Industries. Archived from the original on 14 December 2018. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
  9. Sreekanth, Gayathri (2008). The Name is Rajinikanth. Om Books International. p. 370. ISBN 9788187108443.
  10. "Happy Birthday Rajinikanth: Sandalwood celebs wish the Superstar on Twitter". The Times of India. 12 December 2018. Archived from the original on 19 December 2018. Retrieved 19 December 2018.
  11. Ramachandran, Naman (27 January 2018). "Rajinikanth and realpolitik: In search of the Superstar's political script". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 19 December 2018. Retrieved 19 December 2018.

Bibliography
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