Film: Ganga
Cast: Malashree, Pavithra, Srinivasa Murthy, Pavithra Lokesh, Rangayana Raghu, Bullet Prakash
Director: Om Sai Prakash
Credit is due to scriptwriter Om Sai Prakash, who managed to conceptualise a story that matches Malashree’s ouvre of action-based films. The actress, on her own part, manages to carry the film on her shoulders even today. Watching Ganga is like getting back to the heroine centric films of yore, when women were not just eye candy and were seen fighting their own battles, without waiting for the men to come to their rescue.
Malashree, yet again stars as a firebrand in Ganga, a movie that is all about the struggles of a lady auto driver, who is the only earning person of the family. She is looking after her elder sister (Pavithra), a widow, and also raises her children. Her only aim is to see the two get good education and invests all her hard earned money to see Arjun become a doctor and Anu complete her engineering degree.
On the other end of the spectrum, she is also angry about the corruption and dirty politics that are played at every level. Hell bent on cleaning up the system at any cost, she ends up making numerous sacrifices of her own; and how forms the rest of the story.
While Om Sai Prakash associating with Malashree again after 19 years, has chosen the right subject matter for Malashree, the story doesn’t elevate to a necessary level. Malashree proves that she is radical. The actress who scorches the screen, had the audience cheering while she performed daring stunts like a hero. However, the second-half surprisingly sees her don the role of a long-suffering drama queen. Anil Kumar’s strong dialogues adds meat to the story, and Malashree wins over with her fist fights. Her fearless attitude is what keeps the audience engaged through the film. Though such films find limited success, one should applaud Malashree’s confidence, still holding on to the mantle of being the only strong heroine of the Kannada industry.
Malashree is supported well by Srinivasa Murthy, Pavithra Lokesh, Rangayana Raghu, Suchendra Prasad, Sharath Lohitashwa, and Hema Choudary. Bullet Prakash, Sadhu Kokila and Rangayana Raghu bring in humour to give the film a lighter touch, which is kind of exaggerated. With Arjun Janya’s music and Rajesh Katta’s cinematography, the highlight of is Palaniraj’s stunts. Ganga is purely for those who want to see Malashree in action.