After a long gap, Sandalwood finally gets a romantic movie, what with action dominating for quite some time now.
Charminar is all about parents, teachers, friends and a companion forming the four pillars of life.
A simple love story is narrated in an excellent fashion by director and producer R Chandru and even the music and picturisation assures realistic delight.
Rather than telling its story in chronological order, Charminar jumps back and forth from the present to the past.
The plot practically grows and moulds before the viewer's eyes with the first half narration beginning over a village backdrop with Mohana (Prem) also known as ABCD, a not so brilliant student getting attracted to Radha (Meghana Gaonkar) when she joins the same school in 8th standard.
Love gets strong for Mohana as he realises that they are made for each other but he is not able to express his love for her.
Later, the dull Mohana rises in life, completes his engineering and goes on to become a CEO of an American company.
On the other hand, Radha's dreams of doing CA gets shattered as she goes back to her village to look after her ill mother.
Will Mohana finally express his love to Radha form the rest of the story.
The film soars mainly because the principle characters are active and that's where things fall in place.
Prem's screen efforts in Charminar perfectly blends the sentiments and romance on a pleasant level. Prem is ebullient in the interesting four get-ups and age group.
Meghana gives a charming performance as a homely girl and is well supported by Rangayana Raghu, Suresh Mangalore, Kumudha among others. The director's creativity is wild, which he has kept in permissible limits.
Charminar also highlights the importance of teachers in building a mature society. This film is lightweight to an extent but yet sophisticated, well structured and convincingly performed. The other departments have equally done a good job.
All songs are hummable, coming out by a newcomer, Hari, a former guitarist with the original score for the film by Gurukiran. KS Chandrashekar's cinematography is excellent with the movie having some cool visuals. A neat job by the editing desk.
The Verdict: A humble effort which has brought Chandru back into spotlight.
Film: Charminar Director: R Chandru Cast: Prem, Meghana Gaonkar, Kumudha, Rangayana Raghu.
Running at: Santosh