Tarka (film)
Encyclopedia
Tarka is a 1988 Kannada movie by Sunil Kumar Desai
starring Shankar Nag
, Devraj, Vanita Vasu. Tarka was Sunil Kumar Desai's first movie as a director.
The movie starts of with a ShankarNag running out of jail and the cops chasing him. He accidentally runs into the house of the guy (DevRaj) who had raped his girlfriend and puts the blame on the intruder, who is jailed for the crime. This is a pure accident that he ends up hiding in DR's house. He kills DR, who is trying to kill his wife. The motive of killing is shown to be for the revenge he seeks than to save the lady. Having killed DR he conveniently plays into the game when DR's wife takes the blame for the murder. He agrees to help her dispose the body and clean up all the traces. His character is a man with a good heart caught up between helping his friend (DR's wife, who was his classmate in high school) for both his own mistake and playing a good friend, and saving himself from a life sentence.
The second side to the movie is the DR's character. He has played a mentally troubled guy who is suspicious of his wife. He cannot sleep with her because he thinks she has slept with someone else before marriage. The torture that his wife has to bear due to his sickness leaves you thinking. The sickness that SKD tries to show is simple and at some level is found in a lot of people around us - A girl getting married to a guy whom she barely knows and ends up in a mess because of the mental illness that the guy suffers.
The third side of the story is the friend of Vanita Vasu's (DR's wife) who is VV’s shoulder to cry on. He is a guy who has loved her for a long time but nicely transforms to being a friend. There is one dialogue in which he says - I don’t want to be the one who breaks your house. But if you really want the divorce then my sister can file the case for you. The maturity in the first part of the dialogue hits you on a moral level. DR happens to catch VV and him in his own house and threatens to kill him after he has killed his wife. He runs out of the house to call the police when he is hit by the police jeep chasing SN. ( Now you get the connection?). (Yes, Vanita vasu thinks it is her friend who killed DR and tries to take the blame for the murder).
The fourth side is VVs story. She is a girl who innocently gets married to DR and then realizes the mess she has landed into. She is scared to divorce DR because she think he would kill her if she does so. At one point she confides in her friend that she is still a virgin despite being married for so long. It is just the simplicity of the dialogue which catches your attention. She does not have the courage to kill DR but wishes that he is dead and that is the reason she is not hesitant before taking the blame for the murder. SKD leaves you thinking of whether she accepted the murder of her husband because she felt so good that he was dead and had always been wanting to but having been unable to kill him or to save his friend who tried to save her.
The fifth side of the story is of Avinash. He was needed only to complete the story. Otherwise his role was a bit disappointing. He is a cop who is a witness of the DR's body being disposed off and holds SN and Vanita Vasu at ransom.
The movie is inspired by Agatha Christie's play, "The Unexpected Guest."
Sunil Kumar Desai
Sunil Kumar Desai is a Kannada film director. In most of his movies, Desai blends art and commercial cinema. He has written and directed suspense/thrillers and love stories. He has won the Karnataka state awards in the Best Screenplay & Best Dialogs categories. He has also won the Filmfare awards...
starring Shankar Nag
Shankar Nag
Shankar Nagarkatte , 9 November 1954 - 30 September 1990) popularly known as Shankar Nag was a popular actor and director of Kannada cinema. He also directed and acted in the teleserial, Malgudi days, based on celebrated novelist R.K.Narayan's short stories. Besides these, he was actively involved...
, Devraj, Vanita Vasu. Tarka was Sunil Kumar Desai's first movie as a director.
Plot details
[Plot fully revealed below. Better watch the movie!]The movie starts of with a ShankarNag running out of jail and the cops chasing him. He accidentally runs into the house of the guy (DevRaj) who had raped his girlfriend and puts the blame on the intruder, who is jailed for the crime. This is a pure accident that he ends up hiding in DR's house. He kills DR, who is trying to kill his wife. The motive of killing is shown to be for the revenge he seeks than to save the lady. Having killed DR he conveniently plays into the game when DR's wife takes the blame for the murder. He agrees to help her dispose the body and clean up all the traces. His character is a man with a good heart caught up between helping his friend (DR's wife, who was his classmate in high school) for both his own mistake and playing a good friend, and saving himself from a life sentence.
The second side to the movie is the DR's character. He has played a mentally troubled guy who is suspicious of his wife. He cannot sleep with her because he thinks she has slept with someone else before marriage. The torture that his wife has to bear due to his sickness leaves you thinking. The sickness that SKD tries to show is simple and at some level is found in a lot of people around us - A girl getting married to a guy whom she barely knows and ends up in a mess because of the mental illness that the guy suffers.
The third side of the story is the friend of Vanita Vasu's (DR's wife) who is VV’s shoulder to cry on. He is a guy who has loved her for a long time but nicely transforms to being a friend. There is one dialogue in which he says - I don’t want to be the one who breaks your house. But if you really want the divorce then my sister can file the case for you. The maturity in the first part of the dialogue hits you on a moral level. DR happens to catch VV and him in his own house and threatens to kill him after he has killed his wife. He runs out of the house to call the police when he is hit by the police jeep chasing SN. ( Now you get the connection?). (Yes, Vanita vasu thinks it is her friend who killed DR and tries to take the blame for the murder).
The fourth side is VVs story. She is a girl who innocently gets married to DR and then realizes the mess she has landed into. She is scared to divorce DR because she think he would kill her if she does so. At one point she confides in her friend that she is still a virgin despite being married for so long. It is just the simplicity of the dialogue which catches your attention. She does not have the courage to kill DR but wishes that he is dead and that is the reason she is not hesitant before taking the blame for the murder. SKD leaves you thinking of whether she accepted the murder of her husband because she felt so good that he was dead and had always been wanting to but having been unable to kill him or to save his friend who tried to save her.
The fifth side of the story is of Avinash. He was needed only to complete the story. Otherwise his role was a bit disappointing. He is a cop who is a witness of the DR's body being disposed off and holds SN and Vanita Vasu at ransom.
The movie is inspired by Agatha Christie's play, "The Unexpected Guest."