BANGALORE: This film is one of those few that have a message for our society. The message is aimed specially at parents who pester their children to become rankholders, whether it eats into their playtime or comes at the cost of their mental well-being.
Director Dinesh Babu, in his preoccupation to make this film a box office hit, has ended up ignoring a few little details. For example, there is no television
at the hero’s residence, but he, as a teacher, advises parents to allow their children to watch TV sometimes.
Then, in one scene, the home minister’s daughter visits a bakery on her way to
school to buy chocolates while the driver sits in the car. Generally, a minister’s daughter does is anot allowed to get down from the vehicle alone like this. Such scenes look incongruous.
The climax also does not match up to expectations. Had the director taken
some care to avoid lengthy dialogues between Vishnuvardhan and Suhasini, the
film would have been a better tribute to the departed actor.
As far as Vishnuvardhan’s performance is concerned, he is at his best. His performance in emotional sequences, especially where he collapses after
seeing Meghana’s body or where he pleads Avinash not to repeat the word ‘body’, and another scene where he tries to convince Suhasini will make the audience reach for their handkerchiefs. Suhasini has not only acted well but
also dances in this film.
The story is about Master Jagannath (Vishnuvardhan), his wife Meera (Suhasini) and their daughter Meghana. Jagannath is a dedicated teacher who doesn’t like to overload his students with homework and is respected for the same. Meanwhile, the home minister (Avinash), who is Jagannath’s brother-in-law, orders Prathap (Devaraj) to arrest Padmanabha alias Pappu (Mukesh Rishi), an underworld don. Prathap succeeds in his mission. Pappu’s henchmen kidnaps Meghana mistaking her for the home minister’s daughter. They demand Pappu’s
release but the government refuses. What happens after this is a heart-wrenching
saga. It is a film for all to watch.