'Aarakshaka' (Kannada)
Director: P Vasu
Cast: Upendra (double role), Ragini, Sada, Sayyaji Shinde, Rajesh, Sharan
Actor Upendra is working with director P Vasu for the first time. P Vasu’s earlier films 'Aapthamithra' and 'Aptharakshaka' were huge hits at the box office. Vasu continues to use the concept of psychological disorders with his latest film, Arakshaka too. Though he claims the credit for the script, many sequences remind the viewers of the English film 'Shutter Island'.
Actor Upendra is at his best. He has taken extra efforts to make dance sequences different this time. His dialogue delivery and gestures too are different. Among the heroines, it is Ragini who walks away with the honours. She looks sensuous in dance sequences, but it doesn’t mean that Sada lags behind. She too looks nice.
It is about Arun Kumar (Upendra), a police officer, on a mission to find the whereabouts of Stephen Raj (Adi Lokesh). The trail leads him to a mental asylum. Dr K Manjunath (Sayyaji Shinde) asks him to stay at the hospital and continue his investigation. Manjunath asks Maya (Ragini Dwivedi) to assist Arun with his investigations.
At this juncture, the director introduces a flashback sequence explaining how Arun’s parents were separated and how he fell in love with Catherine (Sada), an orphan, and marries her. It also explains how Arun mistakes Catherine and the circumstances that led him to assume that Stephen Raj had kidnapped Catherine. What happens to Catherine? Will Maya help Arun to nab Stephen Raj, forms the rest of the story.
Sharan, as a nutritionist at the mental asylum, who claims to be a disciple of former president Dr A P J Abdul Kalam, has acted well. Sayyaji Shinde is disappointing. His dialogue delivery, thanks to the dubbing artiste, is not good. It would have been better had the director allowed Shinde to dub with his own voice. Gurukiran has done a neat job. The songs are melodious.
VERDICT: Watch the movie, if you are ready to watch it twice. Else, it will be difficult for you to follow the plot line.