"If you want to be part of an orchestra, you will have to be ready to sing on the streets," says one of the two main characters of Orchestra, Mysuru! to the other, suggesting that the latter has to bare his soul and shed his pride and shame if he wants to make it big. The speaker is Naveen Raj, a bona fide orchestra superstar who has held an open, impromptu audition of Poorna on one such street in Mysuru, all under the garb of possibly teaching him a ‘valuable’ lesson. The power dynamic is apparent here. Naveen Raj sits in a car that emphatically boasts his and his orchestra troop's name in large, bright blue stickering. Poorna, on the other hand, stands in the middle of the main street hunched down to get a better view of his superstar idol, arms folded across his chest like a sincere apprentice. What's also apparent is the condescension in Naveen Raj's eyes as he steps on the gas and drives away, just as Poorna shuts his eyes to gain better control of his singing. And when he opens his eyes a minute or two later, he finds himself singing to a set of slightly puzzled and clueless people.
Now, there are a few very interesting things about this particular scene that illustrate what the film is actually about. One is the very evident power struggle, but beyond that, the director wants us to look through the facade that Naveen Raj has built for himself. He says that although the superstar sits in a car, one must notice that the make of the car is an old Maruti 800 which, in all fairness, isn't the swankiest or most impressive vehicle out there. The director also suggests that it's quite likely that Naveen Raj, too, knows that his pride stems from the fact that he is the only guy in the entire orchestra community to own a car. The car, in this case, becomes a symbol of the pedestal he owns in the community, and the regard and envy it commands. But, at the same time, Naveen is also aware of the fact that there are better and more ‘commanding’ cars out there that completely disregard his position and fame.
And that, perhaps, is the catch, says the director. We see in the opening scene that Naveen Raj's application to perform at the Mysuru Yuva Dasara celebrations is rejected for the nth time based on the fact that he is ‘just an orchestra singer’. We see the despair and angst in his eyes show through almost instantaneously when the news is broken to him again. And as someone who has spent close to 20 years crooning on the streets, we see that Naveen Raj wants to step out of his old Maruti and enter a nicer one — one that he believes he truly deserves. But what if Poorna, the newest kid on the block, were to get there before he does? Sunil Mysooru's Orchestra, Mysuru! is all about this one implicit factor of fortune or destiny.
One of the more striking aspects of the film is that Sunil, the debutant, uses the existing reality and status quo of the orchestra community to drive home his message. We understand soon enough that Poorna is just one among the countless artists trying to make a breakthrough in the orchestra scene and similarly, Naveen Raj is among the many who seek more respect and better opportunities for themselves. Sunil is sympathetic in his gaze because he has grown up idolising orchestra singers and also being privy to the fact that not all of them sustain well. He has seen orchestra singers and musicians being catapulted into everlasting fame and also the sense of rejection that the rest of them face throughout their careers. On the surface, Orchestra, Mysuru! is the story of Poorna, the dark horse or the underdog, but when looked at closely, the film is a tribute to all those persevering artists who, for years together, have carried music and joy to the streets.
But the problem is that we are TOLD this lovely story and never really allowed to experience it first-hand. Instead of letting a bunch of well-defined characters navigate the narrative and tell us the story in their own respective voices, the director force-feeds the information and tries a bit too hard in terms of sentimentality to make his point. One expects a film of this kind to be bustling with energy and a very unique, authentic 'vibe,' but Sunil Mysooru's approach remains cliched and generic throughout.
On the one hand, he refuses to imbue his characters with personality and instead limits each of them to the role they are meant to play in the story — if Poorna's best friend Mahesha comes as the comic relief, his more senior mate Nethranna is restricted to being the wise guy of the group who often dishes out bits of advice. On the other hand, the film adopts a rather familiar structure for its narrative wherein most beats and occurrences can be spotted well in advance — right from the start, we expect Poorna's journey to glory to be hurdled by Naveen Raj's might, but, barring a sequence or two in the climax portion, there's hardly a surprise sprung at us. For a film that's trying to be novel, one would have certainly liked to see a more nuanced and layered storytelling.
Among the performances, Dileep Raj as Naveen Raj is super impressive. Even though he is not the main piece of the story, he commands the screen every time he shows up. Thankfully, the screenplay too, does not limit him to being a vague antagonist, but actually empathises with what he is going through. Poornachandra Mysore, as the protagonist Poorna who is always daydreaming about being an orchestra singer, is charming and his jaunty performance complements Dileep Raj's more stern and authoritative stance.
Raghu Dixit's music needs a special mention and as a fellow Mysurean who has grown up admiring orchestra musicians, his soundtrack is appropriately groovy, mushy, and quite filmy at the same time. Raghu had been accused of sexual harassment during the #MeToo movement in 2018. Daali Dhananjaya, another Mysuru alumnus, is impressed as the lyricist. His range includes pure innocence, growling rage (voiced by Raghu, of course) and also melancholy.
Some of the best moments of Orchestra, Mysuru! are when the director uses the music as an additional character to take the narrative forward — one of the early scenes in the second half shows Poorna singing a beautiful ballad at a friend's wedding and beguiling the scattered crowd. His singing prowess is such that the nadaswaram shehnai player too is charmed by it and at one point, unable to contain his excitement, whips out a solo to embellish the song further. If only there were more such displays of spontaneity in a film about music. Instead, we get a slightly tepid and largely routine-ish version of the coming-of-age tale. As much as Sunil Mysooru tries to elevate things in the climax at the Yuva Dasara festival, the lead-up to that cathartic point isn't as impactful. There are several endearing moments in Orchestra, Mysuru! but most of them are left half-explored. Still, the film works to a good extent because it remains simple and self-aware throughout and most times, that's likely to suffice.
Disclaimer: This review was not paid for or commissioned by anyone associated with the film. Neither TNM nor any of its reviewers have any sort of business relationship with the film’s producers or any other members of its cast and crew.