Mandya Kannada Movie
The year's first film "Mandya' was a hugely expected film by Kannada film fans as it had featured Kannada film industry's latest Super Star Darshan. Rakshitha who is his lucky heroine was also in the film in a glamorous role. Om Prakash Rao who had directed two super hit films with the combination was behind this project. But unfortunately the film does not match the expectations it had created and comes as a disappointment to fans. Despite Darshan's strong screen presence and his dynamism in the action sequences and Rakshitha's oomph, Mandya falls because of a weak script. The film looks like a collage of some sequences taken from some well known non Kannada films like Sambha, Indra and Channakeshava Reddy in Telugu and Madura in Tamil. Om Prakash Rao who could have created a fresh story for the film utterly fails in presenting the film which is knitted with many sub plots.
Currently it has become a fashion for the Kannada film producers to name their films with the places. This trend which was seen in Tamil films has now influenced Kannada film makers also. Om Prakash Rao has titled his film as Mandya which is the sugar bowl of Karnataka. The film does not have any sweet flavour, but it is full of blood, sword fights, violence and sex and nothing else. The choice of Mandya should not surprise any one as Darshan enjoys a good following in that district. There is no reason as to why he has selected this title. The film is full of remixing sequences which are easily identifiable for the audience who are used to see many non Kannada films in the state. And to think of it, the story (?) is being credited to the producer.
The story of Mandya just resembles that of Sambha.Darshan hails from a respected family of Mandya which is adored. Darshan's popularity and helping nature does not go well with one family which is related. The friction develops into a full blooded war between Darshan and his opponents. The police chief of the district advises the warring faction leaders to go out of the district for six months and come back to the city there after. Darshan comes to Bangalore with his family members and is engaged in a business. Meanwhile, he learns that poor people are being troubled by his opponents. He returns to Mandya to warn his opponents that he will not tolerate any injustice.Then he vanquishes all the villains and also delivers a speech where he calls for lasing peace in the district.
Darshan looks expressive and active on screen. He has done his duty, but where is the script that could have really given him some challenge. He has just trusted the director who has made it a habit to churn out remix films. Darshan excels in fight sequences which will certainly bring cheer to his fans. Rakshitha and Radhika-the two heroines of the film have nothing much to do than to show their cleavage in some sequences and dance with the hero in others. Rakshitha looks fat in the song sequences. Radhika tries her best to act, but she has least of the opportunities and her character comes and goes only in the second half. Nothing could be said of the other character artists who are selected just to fill the bill. Music Director Guru Kiran has once again failed to deliver good music for the film. Fight composer Palani Raj has really done a good job in choreographing the fight sequences.
