Though Godfather took time to release, ‘Super Star’ Upendra’s performance will be remembered for long. The entire movie has been shouldered by the actor himself. Upendra has set another benchmark in his career by playing three different roles - as father and twin sons.
Director S Sriram has presented Godfather in his own style to the Kannada audience. Godfather revolves around three characters. Shiva (Upendra) a millionaire on wheelchair is the father of a fun loving son Vijay who enjoys the luxury of richness and goes to a village to help people. There Vijay meets Divya (Soundarya), falls in love and they decide to get married with their family’s consent. Third character Ajaykumar makes an entry whose aim is to kill Vijay’s father and pose hurdles in the marriage arrangements of Vijay. Initially Shiva thinks that his son Vijay is causing the whole mess but later he realises that Ajaykumar is behind this and that is when we are introduced to Shiva’s past life.
Shiva, a Bharatanatyam dancer develops woman-like mannerism due to his ‘dancing lifestyle’ and that becomes a hindrance for his martial status and he is not able to find a bride.
Finally Vani (Catherine) decides to get married to Shiva only after seeing his photo. But on the wedding day, Vani is shocked to see Shiva’s mannerisms and walks out of the mantap. Dejected Shiva takes revenge by forcing himself on Vani. This unhappy union results in Vijay and Ajaykumar. While Vijay is raised by Shiva, Ajay is raised by his mother who is mentally ill. Will Vijay and Divya get married? Will Shiva’s relationship with his other son, Ajay reconcile? What happens to Shiva in the end is a combination of this countless emotions and twist and turns of the film. Upendra playing a triple role is a treat for his fans, with the highlight being the effeminate character played by him. He is the right choice for the role and he himself being a superb director has given a scintillating performance.
Though the Tamil version, Varalaru was an average hit with Ajith playing a similar role, this film directed by S Sriram has managed to keep the audience engaged till the end, even in the remake. This is Soundarya’s (daughter of Dr Jayamala) debut film. Though her screen space is quite less, her performance gets full marks as she doesn’t come across as a debudant at all.
But choosing Catherine for the mother’s role is definitely a minus point because even with the grey hair, she doesn’t come across as old. Bhumika Chawla comes for a song number. Songs Sanchari Manasu, Alapane are superb. The background music is good which is no surprise, with AR Rahman scoring the music. Director Sriram taking the cameraman’s role has done a good job at the editing desk, not giving much room to find faults. This is definitely a treat for family goers as Godfather does not have any dialogues with ‘double meaning’, which is otherwise the case with most of the movies starring Upendra.