''Olave Mandara'' is a 2011 Indian

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

road movie A road movie is a film genre in which the main characters leave home on a road trip, typically altering the perspective from their everyday lives. Road movies often depict travel in the hinterlands, with the films exploring the theme of alienatio ...

written and directed by

Jayatheertha Jayathirtha B. V. (born May 8th, 1977) is an Indian theater activist, social worker, production designer and filmmaker. He is known for his movies Olave Mandara, Tony (2013 film), Tony, Beautiful Manasugalu, and Bell Bottom (2019 film), Bell Bot ...

, and starring debutantes Srikanth and Aakanksha Mansukhani in the lead roles. The supporting cast features

Rangayana Raghu Kotturu Chikkarangappa Raghunath (born 17 April 1965), known by his screen name Rangayana Raghu, is an Indian film and stage actor, known for his work in Kannada cinema. Portraying mostly comic and negative-shaded characters, he has appeared ...

Veena Sundar Veena Sunder is an Indian actress who appears in Kannada films and soaps. For her performance in the movie Aa Karaala Ratri, she won Karnataka State Film Award for Best Supporting Actress in 2018. Personal life Veena married to actor Sundar. T ...

Nassar Nassar ( ar, نصار, lit=helper, protector, supporter, victory-maker), is a given name and surname, commonly found in the Arabic language. Alternative spellings of this name, possibly due to transliteration include Naser, Nasser, Nasir, Naseer ...

and

Sadhu Kokila Sahaya Sheelan Shadrach (born 24 March 1966) known by his screen name Sadhu Kokila, is an Indian musician, actor, comedian, film director and producer, and an occasional screenwriter and lyricist who works in Kannada cinema. He began his care ...

. The sub-plot of the film is inspired by real-life events of Dashrath Manjhi, who cut a rocky hill for 22 years to build a road in memory of his wife. Srikant was adjudged as the 'Promising Newcomer (Male)' for his performance in the film, based on an online poll conducted by ''

The Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest ...

''.

Plot

Srikanth (Srikanth), a son of a rich industrialist (

), meets Preeti (Aakanksha Mansukhani), an Assamese girl, in a dance competition in

Coimbatore Coimbatore, also spelt as Koyamputhur (), sometimes shortened as Kovai (), is one of the major metropolitan cities in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of the Noyyal River and surrounded by the Western Ghats. Coimbato ...

, and falls in love with her. His initial intentions were to only steal a few kisses from her. Bound by guilt, he sets off on foot to

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

to meet her as promised. On his journey, he faces the realities of life as he meets various characters and witnessing incidents such as a farmer couple sharing their lunch with a 'kind' thief (

), and a cobbler (

), taking his disabled wife (

) on a pilgrimage to

Kashi Kashi or Kaashi may refer to: Places * Varanasi (historically known as "Kashi"), a holy city in India **Kingdom of Kashi, an ancient kingdom in the same place, one of the sixteen Mahajanapadas **Kashi Vishwanath Temple, Varanasi * Kashgar, a cit ...

on a bullock-cart. Srikanth is moved on witnessing these. The film ends with Srikanth and Preeti reuniting.

Cast

* Srikanth as Srikanth * Aakanksha Mansukhani as Preeti * Sharan as ''Sandy'' *

as Ratna *

as Nanji *

* Surya *

Sanketh Kashi Kashi (1954 – 2016) known by his professional name Sanketh Kashi, was an Indian actor in the Kannada film industry. Some of the notable films of Kashi as an actor include '' Ulta Palta'' (1997), ''Nammoora Mandara Hoove'' (1996), '' Beladingal ...

* Dharmavaram Subramanya *

Honnavalli Krishna Honnavalli Krishna is an Indian actor in the Kannada film industry. Some of the notable films of Honnavalli Krishna as an actor include '' Ratha Sapthami'' (1986), ''Aasegobba Meesegobba'' (1990), ''Bhootayyana Maga Ayyu'' (1974), ''Janumada Jo ...

* Ashok Jambe * Ramachandra Prathihari * Pranayamurthy * Pradeep Varma * Shailaja * Prof. Ramdas * Amrutha Gowda * Archana * Dr. Chikkahejjaji Mahadev * Jayalakshmi

Soundtrack

Deva Deva may refer to: Entertainment * ''Deva'' (1989 film), a 1989 Kannada film * ''Deva'' (1995 film), a 1995 Tamil film * ''Deva'' (2002 film), a 2002 Bengali film * Deva (2007 Telugu film) * ''Deva'' (2017 film), a 2017 Marathi film * Deva ...

scored the film's background music and composed for its soundtrack, with its lyrics written by

Kaviraj Kaviraj (or Rajkavi, Kaviraja) is a title of honor, which was given to poets and litterateurs attached to royal courts in medieval India. Eminent Charans who were inducted into the royal courts due to their literary merit as royal poets and his ...

K. Kalyan K Kalyan (born 1 January 1975) is an Indian songwriter and music composer known for his works in Kannada film industry. He is also called as "Premakavi. Career K.Kalyan entered the film industry at the age of 17 as a Music director cum lyrici ...

, K. V. Raju,

Hamsalekha Gangaraju (born June 23, 1951), professionally known as Hamsalekha, is an Indian film composer and a songwriter who works in South Indian cinema, predominantly in the Kannada film industry since the late 1980s. He is also a screenplay writer, di ...

and Jayatheertha. The lyrics of the track "Onde Kerili" was taken from a poem of G. P. Rajarathnam. The soundtrack album consists of nine tracks. It was released in December 2010.

Reception

Critical response

A critic from ''

'' scored the film at 4 out of 5 stars and says "While Srikanth impresses with a lively performance, Akanksha is amazing, with good expressions and a pleasant smile. The Rangayana Raghu-Veena Sundar duo moves one to tears. Nazer, Sharan and Sadhu Kokila have done justice to their roles". Satish Shile from

Deccan Herald ''Deccan Herald'' is an Indian English language daily newspaper published from the Indian state of Karnataka. It was founded by K. N. Guruswamy, a liquor businessman from Ballari and was launched on 17 June 1948. It is published by The Printe ...

wrote "Srikanth is impressive in his debut. Rangayana Raghu’s performance is remarkable. Deva’s score is soothing. Jayatirtha deserves appreciation for doing justice to one of G P Rajarathnam’s popular songs and conceptualising a song with the theme of conserving greenery. A watchable movie". A critic from

Bangalore Mirror ''Bangalore Mirror'' is a daily English-language newspaper published in Bangalore, India. It is a deputed newspaper and is the second-largest circulating English newspaper in the city ''Vijay Times'' ''Vijay Times'' was an English newspaper st ...

wrote "The dialogues are average, and could have been crisp. Srikanth does justice to the money his producer-father has poured for the film. Besides critical acclaim, Olave Mandara has all the potential for making it big at the box office. Go for an enthralling journey".

Awards and nominations

2011 Bangalore Times Film Awards

* Promising Newcomer (Male) – Srikanth

1st SIIMA Awards

* Best Male Debutant (Kannada) – Srikanth * Best Female Debutant (Kannada) – Aakanksha Mansukhani

References

{{reflist Films set in Bangalore 2011 films 2010s Kannada-language films Indian road movies 2010s road movies Films scored by Deva (composer) Non-Assamese-language films with Assamese connection Films set in Tamil Nadu Films directed by Jayatheertha