Home | Movies By Year | Movies from 1980
Minchina Ota (1980 film)
Buy Minchina Ota (1980 film) now from AmazonFirst, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the movie. And once you've experienced the movie, tell everyone what you thought about it.
Wikipedia article
'Minchina Ota' is a 1980 Indian Kannada language heist film directed by and starring Shankar Nag with his brother Anant Nag and Lokanath in pivotal roles. The supporting cast features Priya Tendulkar and Ramesh Bhat, who made his debut in the film.
The film was a critical success and won multiple awards at the 197980 Karnataka State Film Awards including Second Best Film, Best Actor (Anant Nag) and Best Supporting Actor (Lokanath). It is seen as a milestone in the careers of the Nag brothers. It was remade in Hindi in 1983 by Shankar Nag himself as 'Lalach' starring Vinod Mehra, Ranjit and Pran alongside Anant Nag with music by Bappi Lahiri. 'Minchina Ota' is considered one of the finest movies in the history of Kannada cinema. It's also a milestone movie in the career of Nag brothers.
Plot
Katte (Shankar Nag) and Prabhakar Rao / Tatha (Loknath) are petty thieves who can't seem to get a break in life. Their criminal past does not leave them wherever they go. To make it big, they resort to their past and start jumping unsuspecting passers by on National Highways and relieving them of their automobiles. Disassembling the auto parts, they sell them for money and often duping people on their way.
Soon their jig is up when one of their stolen vehicles breaks down and a mechanic Tony D'Souza (Anant Nag) is brought for help. Seeing that money is a free flowing concept in this criminal life, Tony joins hands with this crime duo. Soon the trio is hitting various spots and making away with vehicles. During this process, they even manage to rope in another petty thief Manju (Priya Tendulkar), who is thieving to meet her sick mother's medical bills, into their criminal enterprise. Soon, Tony and Manju get married.
The cops are hot on their trail for a good part of the film before finally clamping the trio down much to the delight of the pipe-smoking Inspector Nayak (Ramesh Bhat). As jailbirds, Katte and Thatha seem to have found their peace but not Tony. His desperate self is trying to get away from the chains that bind him. A prison break is planned and executed to almost perfection by the three. In the process, Tatha dies after accidentally falling off the high prison walls. Katte and Tony are killed in an encounter while trying to flee from the cops. The film ends with Manju, who at this stage is pregnant by Tony, vowing to raise the child in a good and healthy environment.
Cast
* Anant Nag as Tony D'Souza
* Shankar Nag as Katte
* Lokanath as Prabhakar Rao / Thatha
* Priya Tendulkar as Manju
* Ramesh Bhat as Inspector Nayak
* Mandeep Roy as Constable Thimmaiah
* Prakash
* B. R. Shivaramaiah
* Mysore Nagaraj
* Ranga
* Basavaraj Vali
Soundtrack
Prabhakar Badri composed the soundtrack for the film with lyrics written by Rudramurthy Shastry. The album consists of four soundtracks.
Awards
Karnataka State Film Awards 1979-80
* Second Best Film - Anant Nag and Shankar Nag
* Best Actor Anant Nag
* Best Supporting Actor Lokanath
* Best Screenplay Mariyam Jetpurawala, Shankar Nag
* Best Cinematographer B. C. Gowrishankar
* Best Editor P. Bhaktavatsalam
* Best Sound Recording S. P. Ramanathan
28th Filmfare Awards South
* Best Director Shankar Nag
References
Buy Minchina Ota (1980 film) now from Amazon
<-- Return to movies from 1980