A divorce hardly forms the premise for a romantic film. However, Ananthu v/s Nusrath attempts to change mindset about love and the laws. The best part of the film is its content, which has been carefully looked at by director Sudheer Shanbhogue.
With relationships in the forefront, stories of multiple couples run in parallel, which come together at the end. On one side is the story of Ananthu aka Anantha Krishna Kramadharitthaya (Vinay Rajkumar), who comes from a Brahmin family. He lives with his father Shankar Narayana Kramdaritya (B Suresha), a matchmaker, and mother Vatsala (Harini), a homemaker. Growing up in an orthodox atmosphere, Ananthu is asked to sleep outside on days when his grandmother thinks the boy has eaten garlic and onions. The young B.Com graduate wishes to study law, and his father allows him to pursue his studies on the condition that he never steps into a family court and handles a divorce case.
Then, there’s Nusrath Fatima Baig (Latha Hegde), who is brought up by a single parent. Living with her mother and grandfather, she is upset that her parents are divorced. It’s love at first sight when Ananthu meets Nusrathh during college. While he is convinced that she is going to be his life partner, they lose contact and meet only seven years later at court, where Nusrath is appointed as a judge in a family court.
Ananthu is a favourite among lawyers, especially for Gaviling Swamy Kethamaranahalli (Ravi Shankar), for whom he has solved 13 cases. Though he is not ready to take up divorce case, circumstances lead him to take up one. When his father learns about it, he is upset that his son has gone against his wishes. But not for long. He soon gets to know about his son’s good deeds - of his ability to get couples to patch up.
When Ananthu decides to propose to Nusrath, he is shocked to know that she is engaged to Nisaar Ahmed (Prajwal Devaraj). Despite being shattered, he decides to move on.
That’s when the twist comes in...Ananthu learns of Nisaar going back to Ethiopia. Will this prove lucky for Ananthu, and will he be able express his love for Nursath? Will the latter accept his proposal?
The debutant director should be applauded for exploring an interesting topic, which has blended various elements - relationships, divorce and religion. All this, with a balanced narration. With sprinkles of comical situations, the only drawback in the film is its pace. A tighter edit would have worked for the film, which is heavy on dialogues. The twist, interesting as it was, would have worked better with a better build-up, especially around Prajwal’s character.
Vinay Rajkumar delivers a mature performance compared to his previous films. He has remained faithful to the director’s vision of carrying off the lawyer’s role. Just two films old, Vinay has experimented with a non-mainstream film. A good move, there.
Latha Hegde justifies the role of a Muslim girl and judge. However, there is scope for improvement. B Suresha as Vinay’s father gets into skin of character. All cast members, including Guruprasad, Bhagawan, Naveen D Padil, Harini Srikanth, Ashwithi, KP Sridhar and Vishwa Vijeth Gowda, provide good support too.A couple of songs composed by Sunaad Gowtham go well, and Abhishek Karsargod’s cinematography is visually-appealing and goes with the film’s theme.
Ananthu v/s Nusrath dispels the myth that divorce lawyers only separate couples. It’s a feel-good film that closes 2018’s final Sandalwood release on an amicable note.
Movie: Sudheer Shanbhogue |