Clichéd dialogues, lifted scenes and the usual masala mark Kannada action hero Darshan's latest film Ayya, which also stars Rakshitha.
In true tough cop style, Darshan declares, 'I am not a police officer who studied in a convent. I am a police officer who studied in a corporation school. Don't mess with me.'
Applause, except for the fact that Tamil hero Vijay says the same words in the film Madurai. There is another dialogue that refers to the number of goons in the state compared to the number of police personnel. It is lifted from Vijay's recent film Tiruppachchi.
Director Om Prakash Rao is a master in lifting sequences from popular non-Kannada films as was seen in his previous film Kalasipalya, which became a huge hit. Ayya is no exception, and is a 'collage' of popular non-Kannada films like Tiruppachchi, Madurai, Saami and others.
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When the youngest son of the Mafia family is acquitted in a rape case for lack of evidence, he humiliates Darshan outside the court. Before you can say 'long arm of law,' Darshan kills him in front of everyone, and files a report saying the criminal was killed in an encounter.
Thereafter, Darshan dispenses similar justice to the corrupt superintendent of police, gets the family members of the gang's henchmen to plead with their kin to abandon the path of crime, and fights the three Dodda dons single-handed. No prizes for guessing who wins.
In between, he also romances college belle Rakshitha, who all but disappears in the second half of the movie. She looks glamorous in some sequences, and too fat in others.
It is a film meant for the masses, and Darshan's fans get what they want. In fact, he looks good in a police uniform.
The comedy sequences of Sadhu Kokila, Tennis Krishna and Mandeep Rai fail to generate interest, mainly because of the shoddy dialogues. Shobharaj, Avinash and Sathyajith are good as the villains.
Ravichandran has scored music for the first time for a film he does not star in. Two of the songs, Thabala, thabala and Darshan Rakshitha are catchy. He has written lyrics for the songs as well. But the other songs are ordinary and even the picturisations are below par. Darshan Rakshitha is picturised the same way as Suntara gaali from Kalasipalya.
Anaji Nagaraj's camera work is, however, a plus point for the film.
Over all, Ayya is what they call a timepass movie. The first half is better than the second half of the film, which is not saying much. The climax scene, which the director had been touting as the 'real highlight,' falls flat because it seems too contrived.
Statutory warning
: For those of you who liked Kalasipalya and want to watch Ayya because it has the same star cast, you might be disappointed.