The statuette of a Laughing Buddha, also commonly known as Budai or Pu-Tai, is a globally recognized symbol that represents and attracts positive energy into one’s life and surroundings. He is often depicted as overweight, with a large belly, either smiling or laughing heartily and is considered an auspicious god of wealth.
An upcoming Kannada film ‘Laughing Buddha’, a comedy-drama film written and directed by M. Bharath Raj, stars the titular man in the leading role. Well, not exactly!
The film follows a Laughing Buddha-esque happy-go-lucky police head constable named Govardhan, who is very literally the spitting image of the character. The plot progresses as Govardhan struggles to prove his worth around his seniors at the police station solely because of his overweightness. The snippets in the trailer beautifully capture the various aspects of his life at home and work. He is both a good husband and a good police officer.
Despite his competency and kind-heartedness, Govardhan is unjustly reduced to a number on the weighing scale. Not only is this body-shaming a pressing issue that needs to be weeded out from our social culture, it is an age-old norm that fails to overlook the physical appearance of a human being, and very unfairly so.
Nevertheless, when Govardhan gets his hand on a new case that he works on unofficially with his superior officer, he grabs the golden chance to prove himself indispensable and not get suspended.
Will this seemingly heartfelt and relatable Pramod Shetty, Teju Belawadi, Sundar Raj, and Diganth starrer capture the essence of being unfairly stereotyped? Or will it become yet another title with good intentions but a poor execution? Head to the theatres near you on 30th August to find out!
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