Upendra's new Kannada film Budhdhivantha directed by Ramnath is the remake of K Balachandar's Naan Avanillai. KB's film was based on a script written thirty years ago -- the Marati play To Mee Navhech by Atre.
The story revolves around a person who cheats women and squanders away the money he got from them.
Recently a remake was made in Tamil under the same name with Jeevan as the hero. Budhdhivantha has many elements common with the Tamil film. Even the songs of Budhdhivamtha have been lifted from the Jeevan film. Yet, Budhdhivanatha cannot be dismissed as another remake and this is due to the many changes including the climax.
Budhdhivantha's strong point is the picturisation of the songs and the punch dialogues written by Upendra and Venkatnarayan. Upendra has clearly excelled as an actor and writer in the film. The film maintains a fast pace and even if you can identify some illogical consequences, the faster narration makes the audience forget these minor mistakes.
Coming back to Upendra, it is to be clearly said that it is one of the best performances of his career so far. His portrayal of Panchamrutha (which means the Holy liquid collected from an idol) is perhaps the best seen in recent times. Upendra is seen in different getups with different body language to suit the many characters portrayed in the film. His spoof on the Rayalaseema gang wars is guaranteed to bring the house down. The court sequences are also the major highlights of the film.
Pooja Gandhi too delivers a good performance, but it is Suman Ranganathan (in a comeback role after a gap of many years) who amazes. Saloni, Brunda and Nethanya perfectly fit in their roles. Veteran actors Lakshmi, Dharma, Sridhar and Hema Chowdhary are all impressive in their respective roles.
Music is another highlight of the film. Music director Vijay Anthony, who had worked in Jeevan's Tamil film has used the same tunes which are well picturised. Chithranna Chithranna, the Telugu song and Naa Naa Avanalla are the best of the lot. The remix song Ravi Varmana has also been well shot, though Hari Haran could have taken care to render the words correctly. Giri's camera work is brilliant. The editor's sharp work also needs to be applauded.
All in all an extremely satisfying film.
Rediff Rating: