Lakshmi Dinesh tried to base his first directorial Half Mentlu on a true story he had witnessed, he says. Sadly, he loses track exploring the character's emotions of love and friendship. He was probably confused on how to deal with the story.
Shiva is a wanderer, and one night, he accidentally, bumps into Madhu (Sonu Gowda). He falls head over heels in love. Meanwhile, Shiva manages to get her photo to which he shares all his feelings. Plenty of songs have been inserted along the story. Whether or not Madhu reciprocates Shiva's love, and what leads to Shiva's death brings us to a tragic ending.
Though the director found Shiva's character interesting in real life, it does not entertain the audience. It leaves them puzzled as to why the director chose an aimless character for a subject. If the life of someone on the street seems interesting, then there is no dearth of original scripts inspired by such vagabonds. But the filmmaker should be sensible while picking what is suitable for the silver screen.
Sandeepa, a new entrant into the Kannada film industry, has tried his best to prove his acting skills, but he still has a long way to go. Though Sonu Gowda has a lot of screen space, she does little besides uttering a few words here and there. The other characters appear to be a mere supporting cast.
Fortunately, this film has good background score, its only saving grace. A couple of songs scored by BJ Bharath are hummable. The cinematographer has tried to play with light and shade, which at times goes with the theme.Watch Half Mentlu at your own risk. You never know, you might take something back with you but don't expect to get too involved in it.