Cast: Vinay, Meera Chopra, Suman, Seetha, Naresh, Jayasudha, Dharmavarapu, Paruchuri Gopalakrishna, Ajay, MS Narayana and Others
Director:M.S.Raju
Producer:M.S.Raju
Music:Kamalakar
Art:Rajeev
Cinematography:Sekhar V. Joseph
Dialogues:Paruchuri Brothers
Editing:K.V.Krishna Reddy
Lyrics:Sirivennela
Screenplay:M.S.Raju
Banner:Sumanth Art Productions, SPR Entertainments India Pvt. Ltd
Release Date:15th January, 2008
M.S.Raju decided to play safe in his directorial debut, but unfortunately this remake of the Kannada super hit ‘Mungaru Male’ seems to have been lost in translation. It's not a bad movie, but after a smooth first half, the second half drags. And that's putting it mildly.
Plot:
Abhi falls in love with a girl at first site. He goes to Anantagiri with his mother, to her old friend's house. And that girl turns out to be Nandini, who is engaged to be married. Initially, Nandini is irritated by Abhi, but slowly a friendship develops. But the wedding is coming up, and there seems nothing the duo can do about it.
Story, Screenplay and Direction:
The first half goes at a medium pace, and with a little humor and a love story shaping up, it is interesting enough. The movie goes downhill in the second half, and in those picturesque areas with natural rain and beautiful photography, the direction suffers. The production values are immaculate, but there's no use.
Abhi picks up a rabbit somewhere, names it Devadas. That's in the first half, and the poor little Bunny is harmless then. In the second half though, the presence of the rabbit becomes intolerable. Not it's fault of course. It somehow turns into the protagonist in the second half. There's a sub-plot involving Ajay, who plays a villainous entity who likes Nandini, in trademark violent fashion. That goes nowhere unfortunately.
In Kannada, the movie might have clicked, but it depends on a lot of other factors. ‘Vaana’ has no substance in it in the first place, which is surprising considering MS Raju's track record. The message is crystal clear, but what's the point if the movie puts you to sleep before you figure out the message? Not happening.
Performances:
Vinay is cast well for the role, and though a little stiff at times, he shows promise. It is completely wasted, because the dialogues in the climax belong to 1948, whereas the dude's from here and now. Meera Chopra is okay, but shares no chemistry with Vinay even when she has to. Naresh does a good job in a brief role. Jayasudha justifies her role. Suman as a retired army officer and Seetha as his wife are convincing.
Music and Dance:
The picturization of the songs, and the music itself is nice and used well.
Last Word:
It's a very average movie, and the beautiful message could have been etched out in a touching manner. It touches the patience nerve a good deal, but doesn't reach anywhere near the heart. Disappointing fare from M.S.Raju with a promising first half and a drag post-break.
|  |
|
