Subtle Romance Recreated

Two stories, two sets of characters and four different lives fit neatly into the plot. Through Endendu Ninagaagi, a faithful remake of the Tamil film Engaeyum Eppothum, director Mahesh Rao  tells us a tragic tale of love and fate with great sensitivity.
Subtle Romance Recreated

Two stories, two sets of characters and four different lives fit neatly into the plot. Through Endendu Ninagaagi, a faithful remake of the Tamil film Engaeyum Eppothum, director Mahesh Rao  tells us a tragic tale of love and fate with great sensitivity.

 A delicately rendered and exceptionally moving reminiscence of the budding lovers is cut short by an accident. The scenes that go back and forth are set between Davangere and Bangalore.

Madhura (Sindhu Loknath), who comes from Davangere to Bangalore in search of a job, seeks the help of a stranger (Anish Tejeshwar) to locate an address and ends up spending the day with him. However, she doesn’t ask to know his name or his whereabouts. The duo fall in love and travel to the other’s city to express themselves.

In the meantime, Suri (Vivek), a worker in a metal shop in Davangere, is charmed by Sowmya (Deepa Sannidhi), a nurse who stays opposite his house. Sowmya is dominating, which Suri finds desirable. As love blossoms between the two, they travel to Suri’s hometown to seek his parents’ blessings.

Madhura is seen catching a bus back to Bangalore, while Anish is catching a bus to Davangere. In the same bus are Sowmya and Suri. What brings them all together is the climax scene, where  Madhura gets to know that her beau’s name is Gautam.

 Dramatic episodes with modest touches of comedy and romance strike a chord with the audience. The noise of the traffic, vehicles and the bustling ambulances towards the end of the film become characters themselves and keep the viewer emotionally connected to the story.

Director Mahesh is adept at eliciting performances from the entire cast that has given uniformly good performances.

However, he could have approached the remake a little differently to enhance the product.

The lead pairs - Vivek and Deepa Sannidhi, Sindhu Loknath and Anish Tejeshwar - are seamless all the way. However, Vivek’s debut role is low-key, thanks to the crowded star cast. Director Abhay Simha has made a guest appearance along with his wife Rashmi, as the couple play a newly-wedded couple. 

 V Harikrishna has brought in nativity in his songs. Khayile, in particular, has become a hit among the audiences. Not an exceptional job by cinematographer Jai Anand, who has taken a lot of tips from the Tamil version.

While such a subject is new to the Kannada audience, director Mahesh Rao has managed to retain much of the melodrama of the original flick in his remake.

Film: Endendu Ninagaagi (Kannada)

Director: Mahesh Rao

Cast: Vivek, Sindhu Loknath, Anish Tejeshwar, Deepa Sannidhi

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