Bharath Stores

Director P Sheshadri has chosen the hot topic of foreign direct investment (FDI) and narrated its pros and cos in the form of a story without coming to any conclusion whether it is bad or good for the country. He has left the decision to viewers.

Director P Sheshadri has done a good job by taking up FDI as the subject of his latest movie. He has excellently narrated how it can affect petty shops like what we call Pettige Angadi or Kaka Angadi or Shetty Angadi. He has based his story on personal experience where a Shetty shop near his house in Srinagar, Bangalore, was closed as it couldn’t compete with malls or mart culture. The director has tried to link how small shops in localities which had become part and parcel of our culture have been affected by mall culture. He has poignantly shown how close shop owners were with families and had no qualms about sending them ration without waiting for money.

Govinda Shetty (Dattatreya) has a small grocery shop called Bharath Stores in one of the localities in Bangalore. He wins the faith of customers and doesn’t even ask for money for the ration he sends them home. However, when malls enter the city, his future becomes bleak. He has to sack his helpers, face problems in the family, and finally gets admitted to an old-age home, unable to bear the competition.

The director narrates the story through Bharathi (Sudharani), who comes to Bangalore with her husband Sharath (Chi Gurudutt), a techie from the US, after a gap of nine years. The first thing she wants to do is pay back to Govinda Shetty the Rs 2.5 lakh her father borrowed from him. She faces a tough time finding Shetty as his shop is not there, and people who worked with him, too, are not aware where he is. Finally, she finds him in an old-age home, bed-ridden and not able to recognize anyone or speak.
The climax is deeply touching. Sudharani has done a splendid job as the lead character. Chi Gurudutt is equally good. But it is Dattatreya who brings a tear or two in the climax with his brilliant performance. Cinematography by Mahendra Simha is good.