The first thing that strikes you about the Kannada film's opening credits is that its director is Praveen Engineer, a software engineer before he made a foray into films. And while it's heartening to see many educated youngsters entering the film industry, which is bound to result in decent films, the case is not so with Praveen, who is associated with an earlier vulgar Telugu film Maisamma which starred sexy item girl Mumaith Khan in the lead.
Doubts about Praveen's capabilities emerge after looking at the way he has crafted Abhimani. If at all his claims that he had directed Maisamma is true [the credits of the film indicate that one Bharat Parempally is the director), then the fact remains that he has not grown in his sensibilities or creative levels.
The story revolves around Muththuraj, an avid Dr Raj Kumar fan who picks up his favourite actor's idol to discuss his problems. His mother wants him to become a singer and Muththu, with encouragement from his girlfriend Aparna, tries unsuccessfully to be one. Tragedy strikes when his mother dies and he later discovers that he has tongue cancer. Will he be able to fulfill his mother's dreams? Well, you have to watch the movie to find out.
While the plot is alright, its execution isn't. Though Praveen has included some sequences of Dr Rajakumar's two popular films Babruvahana and Daari Thappida Maga in the climax to heighten the effect of that sequence, the scene fails to make any impact due to the torturous narration. Crude comedy and illogical sequences too hamper the film. Praveen also lacks sophistication in handling the emotional sequences of the film.
The film also fails in all the other technical departments including the nondescript dialogues.
On the plus side is the music by Dharma Teja, especially the last song, and debutante Nidhi Subbaiah's natural performance.
Rahul who starred in Nannusire needs to improve his expressions and dialogue delivery. Veteran actor Sharath Kumar overacts in a few sequences while Srinath, Tara and Chitra Shenoy are okay.
All in all, Abhimaani is just an average fare.
Rediff Rating: