BANGALORE: Just when it seemed that actor Komal Kumar had gotten his creative energies back under control, along comes his intermittently funny and often overdone comedy that could have been a classic. The stage of Pungi Daasa, directed by M S Sreenath, is set for a comedy, but the movie doesn’t have the wallop, the laugh, or the wry comments usually found in Komal’s films.
The film opens with Pungi Daasa aka Ramdas’s grandfather (R N Sudharshan) being admitted to the hospital for treatment worth `15 lakh. Sadly, he goes into coma. Ramdas is aware that his grandfather, a big shot in the city, has lent money to various people. He along with his family members engage in recovering the money and in the process, Ramdas adopts some uneven tactics for which he takes help from two of his friends (Chikkanna and Pratap). All of them end up lying through their teeth to get the money back.
Suddenly, Ramdas’s house has two new guests - Gayathri (Sowcar Janaki) and her grand daughter Nandini (Asma). Ramdas here falls for Nandini at first sight but takes time to express his love for her. But Ramdas’s father is upset on knowing that his father had an another woman (Gayathri) in his life. Unfortunately, the truth in the matter remains unclear as the grandfather passes away.
B C Patil and his huge family enters Ramdas’s house and decides to stay at his house for the last rites. What happens between the two families during the stay forms the crux of the movie.
There’s nothing new or inordinately hilarious in the cinematic proceedings. Sreenath’s direction does nothing to make the film watchable, as it suffers due to many weak spots, clunky punchlines and cliches.
Komal, till now, was among the very few people in the Kannada industry who gave the audience good humour. The actor seems to have lost it since he began focusing on overall entertainment. Director M S Sreenath has failed to tap into Komal’s strengths.
Asma seems dull in her girl-next-door role. The supporting cast including Chikkana, Prathap and Bullet Prakash is also underused. There are amateurish moments here and there with a shoddy work by cinematographer Arul. The background score is loud and clashes with the dialogues. Music by Farhan Roshan is not upto the mark, except for the song Chandirane Chandirane sung by Vijay Prakash.
Verdict: Komal has failed to exercise his witty side in Pungi Daasa and has ended up making an unappealing family drama.
Film: Pungi Daasa
Cast: Komal Kumar, Asma, Sowcar Janaki, R N Sudharshan
Director: M S Sreenath