Hebbuli Cut movie review: Rarely has a mere haircut in cinema symbolised the deep-rooted caste discrimination in Indian society as poignantly as Bheemarao’s Hebbuli Cut.
Vinay or Vinya (Mounesh Nataranga) dreams with all the innocence in the world of sporting the same hairstyle as his idol Kichcha Sudeep in the film Hebbuli (2017), and only so that he can impress a girl in his class. The girl (Ananya MK) belongs to an upper caste household in the village of Chandrabanda in Karnataka’s Raichur district, while Vinya is the son of a cobbler, whose profession is disreputable in people’s eyes to a dehumanising level. The girl’s brother, Gowda, is the real power-wielding figure in the village and his caste privilege ranges from revving his Bullet on the streets to refusing to sit in the same chair as a person of lowered-caste, unless it has been dusted clean first. Hebbuli Cut, beneath its effervescent exterior, is a searing account of the consequences of a marginalised boy trying to get onto the same chair for a fleeting moment of joy.
In its crisp 1-hour-50-minute runtime, the film weaves sharp critiques about the rampancy of social hierarchy that still exists glaringly amidst us. If Vinya rides a beaten-up bicycle to school, his classmates – including the girl he likes – sit atop much newer, more colourful ones. If the new barber in the village, a fellow Hindu (who owns a snazzy place called Modern Men’s Buty Parlar – For Perfect Men’s) feels scared and mildly ashamed of cutting Vinya’s hair despite demanding Rs. 500 from him, the veteran local Muslim barber has no qualms to help this kid out for a considerably smaller price. And even if Vinya does everything in his might – from stealing and gambling to picking scrap – to make that Rs. 500, society around him still never grants access to what he truly deserves. In many ways, Hebbuli Cut is a rite of passage that reveals itself to be a baptism by humiliation by the end.
And yet, to describe the film solely in such serious terms is to miss its beating heart. Hebbuli Cut wears its wide-eyed innocence on its sleeve and informs us of its world with loads of humour, music and whimsy. We see Vinya as the kind of kid who can slip into a daydream at the drop of a hat and his flights of fancy (never straying beyond the walls of his town) could include him throwing punches, getting married with a lot of fanfare, or all of it at once. We also see how the region’s local idiom, be it the Kannada dialect, the costumes, the locations or the general lifestyle and cadence, is such an integral part of the narrative as it builds authenticity, and handholds us into a setting that is fiercely rooted to reality. It is here that director Bheemarao’s simplicity (aided by Deepak Yaragera’s cinematography) in capturing the many fine details of the narrative doubles as inventiveness, because Hebbuli Cut might seem lacking flair in some portions, but it never feels pretentious or contrived.
This approach allows for several lesser-known actors, who possibly emerge from the very region the story is set in, to lend a sense of groundedness to the narrative. Rafeeq (Punith Shetty Allama), the hotshot mechanic of the village, is Vinya’s close friend and aide, and their camaraderie feels refreshing and unforced in spite of the age gap and them belonging to different faiths. Mahadev Hadapad as Vinya’s father Mallanna delivers another natural performance after Photo (2023) with Uma YG impressing with her portrayal of the role of the kid’s mother.
The film borrows inspiration from many real-life incidents of cruel Dalit oppression and segregation, including several accounts of people being denied entry into temples, hotels and other social places. There’s also a reference to Karnataka’s existing Anna Bhagya scheme, wherein a wealthier customer derogates and taunts Mallanna for not having to pay for ration before refusing to pay even Rs 10 for a job well done. The social and political realities expressed in the film, indeed, are the fulcrum of the story, and the writing is effective in communicating the film’s essence without ever spelling it out for us. Even though Hebbuli Cut doesn’t mince its words about its socio-political stance, its voice never goes shrill.
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At the same time, the film would have benefitted further by infusing some inventiveness into the writing. While the breezy screenplay holds our attention till the very end, it occasionally has a stop-start rhythm that leaves certain key arcs in the story (Vinya’s growth into self-reliance, for instance) slightly underdeveloped. Barring these missteps, Hebbuli Cut has lots to offer in terms of perspective as it bats defiantly for the underdog, and still manages to be thoroughly entertaining. It’s also a showcase of the Kannada Film Industry’s rich pool of talent that is unafraid of representing the world it emerges from, in all its innocence and injustice.
Hebbuli Cut movie cast: Mounesh Nataranga, Anany Niharika, Mahadev Hadapad, Uma YG, Vinaya Mahadevan, Mahantesh Hiremath, Sarvesh Gouduru
Hebbuli Cut movie director: Bheemarao
Hebbuli Cut movie rating: 3.5 stars
