Whatever the makers of the Kannada film may Gaja say, this Darshan starrer is the remake of Boyapeetu Sreenu's Telugu film Bhadra which had Ravi Teja and Meera Jasmine in the lead. To escape the state government's policy of not giving tax exemption to remakes, the producers decided to claim that the film is actually based on a Telugu novel written in 1998!
If you forget the remake aspect and analyse the film on its merit, then we can say Gaja is a good entertainer of this festive season and will certainly cheer the industry as a good beginning has been made (this is the first Kannada release of the new year).
Darshan has come back to do what he does best -- performing. Gaja has a tight, racy script aimed to please Darshan's fans. It has a perfect package of action, romance and sentiments, complemented well by lively music and good performances.
Gaja's main strength is its script which will not let you yawn even for a second! The film is very fast paced and full of entertaining commercial ingredients, and the only thing that can negates the entertainment value is the number of stunts in the second half of the film. Of course, the 'A' certificate may not go down well with the family audience.
Gaja or Gajendra is a happy-go-lucky college student who has a great friend in Krishna. Gaja goes to Krishna's village on a holiday and meets his younger sister Shwetha. He immediately takes a liking to her and the other family members of Krishna. But to his amazement, Gaja finds many startling developments occurring in the village. In the festival celebrations, the family members get killed. Gaja escapes with Shwetha to Bangalore after killing the brother of the rival's younger brother. What happens later is a high dosage of action, sentiment, thrills and a chase.
Darshan displays perfect body language and does fights and songs with amazing ease. His dialogue delivery too is brilliant. The on screen chemistry between him and Navya Nair is magical.
Ektha Kapoor brings in the glamour quotient and looks good in the songs. Komal is equally entertaining. Master Hirannaiah enlivens in a role with limited scope. Villains Pradeep Rawat, Subbaraju and Shobharaj have performed their roles well.
Gaja's main strength is the music of Harikrishna and rich production values. Cameraman Ramesh Babu has to be complimented for his efforts. The songs Maathu Nannolu, Lambooji Lambooji, and Aithalakadi' are very well choreographed. And so are the fights.
The only thumbs down to Gaja is the director and producer's claim that their film is an original.
Rediff Rating: 
