Yaare Koogadali

Puneet Rajkumar's last two movies Paramathma and Anna Bond had got mixed response from critics and had failed to impress all section of audience. His last superhit film was Hudugaru, which was the remake of Naadodigal. Now, the Power Star has teamed up with Samuthirakani, the creator of Naadodigal for the remake of his own Tamil film Poraali, for Yaare Koogadali. The Power Star has been doing films which are youthful and that were liked by both mass and class. Puneet Rajkumar, this time, has taken up the subject which is intense and message-oriented.

In fact, the actor has taken a break from his usual roles and has done a challenging role played by Sasikumar in the original. However, Yaare Koogadali has regular masla elements like action, item song, love and sentiment too. Yaare Koogadali starts off with Kumar (Puneet Rajkumar) and Natesh (Yogish) escaping from a mental asylum at the midnight after fighting hard against baddies. They directly land at the house of Sishupala (Sadhu Kokila). The duo wants to achieve something in life and desires to take the righteous path to be successful.

They soon get job at a petrol bunk where they meet a girl named Sindhu Lokanath. After working for a while, the trio decide to start their own business and partially succeeds before Kumar and Natesh's past haunt them again. The director has kept their earlier lives in suspense and it is only in the second half it gets revealed. Are Kumar and Natesh mentally ill? You have to watch the film to know this. Samuthirakani takes quite a lot of time to arrive to the main story. In the first one hour, Yaare Koogadali entertains audience with light moments. The audience will be desperately waiting for the flashback of the duo and it is only by the end of the first half that we get hints about their characters.

Yaare Koogadali connects well with ordinary people than class for the director brings in problems faced by common man at every given opportunity. It is a good versus bad battle, where the main character practices 'live and let live'. Samuthirakani also leaves the audience to decide who is mental ill in this mad and fad world. Yaare Koogadali is a good entertainer and has a strong subject. There are good number of action scenes. More importantly, the film has quite a few touching scenes. Once again, the director has sent out a message that friendship is more important in a man's life than his relatives.

Puneet Rajkumar has done a brilliant job in Yaare Koogadali. His chemistry with Bhavana is good and his combination with Yogish works big time. Yogi, like in Hudugaru, shines with his one-liners and acting. Sindhu Lokanath is okay but watch out for Nivedhitha's role in the second half. The actress, in her limited role, wins a lot of appreciation. But Charmy in item number does not make any impact. Sadhu, Shobharaj, Malavika and others have played their parts well. Technically, V Harikrishna has not lived up to his expectations. The music director, who has given hits like Jackie and Paramatha to Puneet, has failed to impress audience. But his background score is better. Guruprasad's dialogues strikes hard at parts and funny at times.

Sukumar's cinematography is good and Ravivarma's stunt choreography is excellent. The first fight scene, where Puneet and Yogi hit a baddie in the air, is praiseworthy. Deepak S Kumar's scissors could have been sharp to give the film a good look. Audience will be desperately waiting for the main story to begin in the first half. Though the comedy is good, after sometime, it fails to keep audience's attention. And also, at parts, the director has taken too many liberties to come up with dramatic scenes and as you read before, music has failed in the film.

Verdict

Yaare Koogadali stands different from all Puneet Rajkumar's earlier films. It is a message-oriented film and entertaining. But will this save the film at the Box Office? That needs to be seen.