Director Nanda Kishore rose to fame with his debut film Victory that starred Sharan; it was a blockbuster hit. The same combination seems to have worked wonders again with Adhyaksha, his latest release. There is always an originality to the first film, which usually can’t be replicated. But Nanda Kishore breathes new life into the film, which is a remake of a Tamil movie Varuthapadatha Valibar Sangam. It is a clever family picture that brings in surprise freshness to the premise.
Broadly handled and squarely on target, the satire, Adhyaksha is nimbly helmed by the director and benefits considerably from its talented cast.
Like the original, the film is set largely against a rural backdrop ‘Gejjepura’ and here lives an idler Chandrashekar Gowda (Sharan). Joining him is his side kick, a role played by Chikkanna. They both come up with a youth forum called ‘Chinteillada Tundaayakara Sangha’ (Chi.Thu) for which Chandrashekar is the Adhyaksha (President) and Chikkanna is the Upa Adhyaksha (Vice President). Chandrashekar is attracted to a school teacher Kalyani, a guest role played by Ashmitha Sood.
To win her over, he takes help of Aishwarya (Raksha), a class 11 student, studying in the same school. He tries to send love letters through Aishwaraya to be delivered to Kalyani. However the love letters do not attract Kalyani and instead he receives a wedding card from her through Aishwarya. This leaves Adhyaksha heartbroken. On the other side, Shiva Rudre Gowda (Ravi Shankar) arranges to get his daughter Aishwarya married off. Adhyaksha complains to the police and stops the wedding after learning that Aishwarya is still a minor. Aishwarya, who also falls for him, thanks Adhyaksha for his help. Will Adhyaksha reciprocate Aishwarya’s love? If so, will the two get their parents blessings? This forms the rest of the story. The director picked the right cast for the film, which is sprinkled with humour in almost every frame. Some situations are hilarious and garner many laughs. In the event, the picture often throws unexpected curve balls at the audience.
Sharan who knows the art of making people laugh and does his best to follow the comprehensible instructions he is given. His undeniable charm onscreen along with Chikkanna and constant asides to the camera, almost always works and raises laughter.
The quip quotient is high especially between Sharan and Chikkanna. The former is highly effective as a sidekick and the director comes up with a well-timed gag between the two.
To the director’s credit, Ravi Shankar does add a certain energy and spirit to many scenes and some great comic moments emerge.
Ravi Shankar who is mostly seen in villainous roles surprises with his character of a father who has three daughters.
The film offers almost non-stop laughter, loaded with patented gags and slapstick comedy. Dialogues written by Prasanth Rajappa have been uttered by everybody in the picture.
The music composed by Arjun Janya is quite delightful. The song Adhyaksha Adhyaksha sung by Puneeth Rajkumar adds that punch to the film and is the song sequence that sees actors Prem, Srinagar Kitty and Sri Murali. together Cinematographer Sudhakar S Raj brings in a visual treat through his camera.
Verdict: The film is aptly titled. What makes the picture work well is the cheerful weather-beaten appeal. There is more here to laugh at than has been seen in Kannada films for some time. Pure Entertainment!