Darshan acts in dual roles for the first time in H Vasu's Indra. The film is a remake of the Tamil film Arasu, starring Sharath Kumar. Vasu has not made any substantial changes in the script. The only major change he has made is that he projected Darshan as brothers, while the Tamil original had Sharath Kumar playing father and son.
Indra follows a pattern similar to Darshan's earlier films. It has all the commercial ingredients, following a revenge drama, and should have been an interesting film. But it lacks cohesion and fails to hold you. The fast-paced story does not effectively translate into a brisk narration.
However, Krishna Kumar's camerawork and the film's climax are the highlights of the film.
The story goes like this: Indra works in a temple in a small town. He wins people over by his simplicity, and the temple's trustee's daughter secretly falls in love with Indra. One day, Indra murders an underworld don. This shocks the temple trustee and his family. To know his reasons for killing the don, watch the film.
Since Rajnikanth's Basha was released, many films have followed this pattern of narration. Tamil film Arasu is one such example. However, the Kannada remake is no match to Basha.
Darshan scores well in his double roles, and makes his fight scenes look convincing. Namitha's oomph factor is seen only in the song sequences, while she just passes muster in the others.
Veteran actor Ramesh Bhat shines in his role of a loyal worker to Indra's brother, Aiyanna. Anand Raj, Harish Rai tune well in the villain's roles.
Harikrishna, who was very good in Gaja and Galipata, has surprisingly fallen down in quality with his music in Indra.
Rediff Rating: 
