Mohanlal-Puneet Rajkumar's Kannada film wins praise

Last Friday's Kannada release Mythri (Friendship) has received positive reviews for its strong script, realistic plot, good performances and social message.

The film, starring Puneeth Rajkumar and Mohanlal, collected a healthy Rs 1.75 crore at the box office on the first day.

The film also stars Atul Kulkarni, Ravi Kale, Bhavana Menon and Archana.

Mohanlal plays a research scientist in the movie.

The film has music by maestro Ilayaraja and is directed by B M Giriraj, who made the critically acclaimed Jatta.

N S Rajkumar (Myna and Jatta) is the producer. Krishna Kumar is the cinematographer.

At a media interaction after the release, director Giriraj said the film was not given enough publicity but the response from women had been encouraging.

Producer N S Rajkumar said the film had exceeded his expectations. Its Malayalam remake will release in March. He clarified that the film is not dubbed in Malayalam; artistes like Kalabhavan Mani will be acting in the Malayalam version.

Puneeth Rajkumar. who plays himself in the movie, said he

had always wanted to act in an offbeat film with a good script that did not require him to do the regular fight and dance sequences.

He had heard the story when he was doing the second season of the game show Kannadada Kotiyadhipati and given his assent.

"When I said it was a special appearance, people in the media thought it was a guest appearance. What I actually meant by ‘special’ was that my role did not require me to dance or fight as a hero. I had to be myself and that was similar to the television show that I hosted. This role has given me satisfaction,” said Puneeth.

"If I find the script interesting, I will do the film because what matters to me is that audiences who pay to see a movie should like what they see as much as I loved the script before accepting the offer,” he said.

Puneeth also said he would not dub for himself in the Malayalam version, unlike Mohanlal who dubbed his portion in the Kannada film.

"I can manage to talk in Tamil and Telugu but Malayalam is quite difficult for me. I can’t dream of dubbing my voice in Malayalam because I can’t do justice to it,” he said.

Telugu actress Archana, who had previously acted in Kannada film Aa Dinagalu, said it was gratifying and satisfying to be part of two good films like Mythri and Aa Dinagalu.