AT THE THEATRES
Naanenu Maadlilla
Reviewer: Srikanth Srinivasa
(at MENAKA)
Welcome back, Mr Ananth Nag! Ananth Nag simply deserves to stage a
comeback to his old world of
cinema. Though the film has been delayed in hitting the screens, it was worth waiting for
all these months.
Ananth Nag`s strength has been in portraying middle class sensibilities rightly despite
the verdict he got in the Assembly elections. Of course, slim and svelte Sudha Rani also
needs a warm welcome!
Ramachandra (Ananth Nag) is a hen-pecked husband though with a low peck order than his
earlier film
Hendathige Helbedi made by the same director. He symbolises a typical middle class husband
who is taken afraid by his wife Chitra`s (Sudha Rani) high-handed and dominant behaviour.
He has his in-laws who torment him and ridicule him at every instance. When Chitra and her
parents embark on a pilgrimage to Tirupati, Ramachandra escapes from their clutches.
Instead, he stays at home and thus lands up in trouble.
Yes, three of his close friends (Jai Jagadish, Sundarraj and Keerthi) find their way into
Ramachandra`s house after a gap of 20 years! They hit upon a idea of 'buying` a girl for
thier company at Ramachandra`s place. Resenting and frowning at the idea,
Ramachandra is flabbergasted and left high and dry. He does not find help from any
quarter. Puttathayi (Shilpa), a innocent village girl is brought home by one of the pimps.
When one of the three friends approaches the girl for her company, he falls down with a
heart attack. He is rushed to the hospital. Ramachandra is helpless. He is unable to
decide about the future of Puttathayi. Meanwhile, he has a lurking fear that his wife will
be returning home soon.
He, then, employs the plumber Velu (Ramakrishna) to hide Puttathayi from Chitra. The
inevitable results.
What happens to Ramachandra? Does Chitra accept Puttathayi? Or does Chitra take
Ramachandra to task for hiding the girl? This forms the remaining part of the plot.
Ananth Nag comes up trumps with the role. Truly, it has been a long time since we saw of
his histrionics and his comical refrains. So what, if he proclaims in the song Naanenu
maadalilla... that he has not done
anything (as a minister), he is definitely wanted back into the cinema fold. Sudha Rani
has made best use of whatever little (in the form of dialogue delivery) she has from the
film. Ramakrishna is adequate. Shilpa is good. But, director Dinesh Babu alias Baboo fails
to explain whether she is truly innocent or not. Dinesh Baboo has failed to pump in some
more punch to dialogues in his direction. Das`s cinematography is quite pleasing as well.
A must-see film for Ananth Nag`s fans!