BANGALORE: With films like Pallavan and Ammuvagiya Naan to his credit, Padmamagan has tested new waters with Netru Indru. The narration travels on parallel tracks, one depicting the past, the other the present. But that's all that is appreciative about his effort. There should have been more focus on a coherent screenplay. Also the director has gone overboard with the glamour quotient, the film at times slips into a crass sleazy mode.
The film opens with the killing of forest brigand Veera (Sampathram) by the special task force. There are shades of the Veerappan-saga here. The cops are now on the trail of David (Prasanna), a cop, who had earlier shifted sides. On one track are the adventures of the team of four sent to the forest to track and apprehend David. And on a parallel track are the events of the present, with two main characters in it. There is Damini (Nandagi) stranded on the highway and in a hurry to reach the Kabini check post; and a car mechanic Sivaji (Vemal), who is perpetually drunk and has an over active libido. She takes a lift from him. He makes crude passes at her, has prostitutes in his car, and makes indecent proposals to her about sleeping with him 'thrice'.
But this does not deter the girl from travelling with him alone on a deserted highway. On the other track, the cops encounter Akila (Arundhati) in the forest.
She says she lives in the forest, confesses to being a prostitute and is game to sleep with all of them. She offers herself to each of them at every camp they halt at. The men lust after her, vie with each other to jump into bed with her, their mission almost forgotten.
The scenes are crude and badly shot. The background music is loud and jarring. The two tracks are interlinked at the end and this explains the urgency of Damini's journey.
The narration picks up a semblance of seriousness and peps up after the late entry of Prasanna, who plays David. His is the only sincere performance in the film, but a wasted one in such a hopeless scenario. The rest of the actors sleep walk through their roles with neither involvement nor seriousness.
Verdict: Netru Indru is an unexpectedly disappointing fare from a director who has earlier made impressive films like Ammuvagiya Naan.
Film: Netru Indru
Director: Padmamagan
Cast: Prasanna, Vemal, Richard, Bharani,Arundhati Nandagi, Harish.