Dialogues, satires and strong subjects have been director Guruprasad's strengths. His earlier films Mata and Eddelu Manjunatha won the audience hearts with only these elements and created a new section of audience, who enjoyed his style of filmmaking. The impact of those films such that the director himself became a brand and a hero of his films. Guruprasad took three odd years to come up with his latest film Director's Special.
All his fans, who waited for his next film, is finally relieved to see his movie hitting the screens. However, unlike his other films, this film does not star tried and tested Jaggesh but seasoned actor Rangayana Raghu will be doing the lead role. Well, is it worth a wait? Has it lived up to audience expectations? How Rangayana Raghu has performed? Read on for the review... The setting, like Eddellu Manjunatha, is simple. A house and countable characters run the entire film. May be this factor has made him to become one of the producers of Director's Special.
We are introduced to five characters straight away played by newcomer Dhananjay, Rangayana Raghu, Ramya Chaitra Kala Ram and Sumitra Devi. Dhananjay bring four members from different places to make a sweet family of father, mother, brother and sister. All the five members, who are unaware of their earlier backgrounds, settle in a house. Together they have new names. The parents are named as Ramachandra and Sita, the sister becomes Gayathri. But the director forgets to christen the brother! It may be because he appears to be mentally ill. And Dhananjay's original name retained in the film. As they start living together, their true nature has been shown.
The son, who hand-picked his family members, is a good human but occasionally sending warning signs to other inmates that he is not innocent if they cross their line. Well, how humans are getting greedy? How money has become more important than relationships? Are relationships like parents, brother and sister have lost in this madman's world? Guruprasad has prepared the story keeping these elements in mind. Director's Special is a clash of thoughts between evil and good. The projection of characters by Guruprasad are similar to his earlier films. He tries to bring awareness of being good through the film and ends the movie by turning a preacher. So does the film has a good story and all necessary entertaining elements?
Let me make it clear by saying that it is a film for Guruprasad fans. His usual sarcasm, hilarious one-liners, and double entendres are all their to be enjoyed. But the disappointing factor is that the story of the film is weak. The first half loses grip after some time but manages to maintain curiosity, as he brings a kind of in-completion feeling. It has to be noted that the length of the first half is just an hour.
However, this time, he has not brought in two many double-meaning dialogues. It is there at parts. In Director's Special, not many celebrities have found place in his sarcastic dialogues apart from Diganth, Radhika and Kumaraswamy. Well, the highlight of the film is one-liners, which bring laughter most of the time.
The drawback of the film is the story part. Though it is not bad, people would miss the strongly-engaging part badly. Nonetheless, the film could be watched once.
Performance wise, Rangayana Raghu is top notch. His body language and mannerisms, without doubts, win appreciation. Don't be surprised if he gets a state award for supporting role! Well, people, at least for once, will imagine Jaggesh in this role. The newcomer Dhananjay is very promising. Though he doesn't have much to show his talents, he has utilised to his best in the given opportunity. His is style and expressions show that he is here to stay. Remaining characters perform well.
Pooja Gandhi's item number is good. Anoop Selin's background score and occasional short songs have to be appreciated. The Sanksrit verses in the background and soft violin add value to the product. Editing by Kemparaju and cinematography by PL Ravi are brilliant. Verdict: Director's Special is completely a Guruprasad film.