Munjaane

First things first. Ganesh's Munjane doesn't have a story and even if you sense some tale, you could not connect with it all through. The Golden Star and S Narayan's third combo film is a poorly made cinema that seems to be made for television viewing but the truth is that it cannot even be seen on TV due to the director's beating-around-the-bush kind of story telling.

Pavitra (Manjari Phadnis) is the daughter of postmaster played by Rajendra Karanth. She has a habit of writing her favourite lines where ever she manages to keep her hands - like penning on walls, shirt or pants of others. This attitude of her sets the tone to begin the love story in the film. Manu Moorthy (Ganesh), who is the easy going son of a businessman, gets to read a quote written by her on the backside of a bus. Impressed by it, he rubs the text and writes his own message as a response. This continues for a while before they realise that they are in love. In the meantime, her family finds an alliance for her and she refuses the proposal. Situation takes them away and the director has etched a suspense by the end of the first half. The second half is about how they find each other.

Ganesh-S Narayan's Cheluvina Chitara became superhit and their recent movie Shyloo was a moderate hit. In both the movies, the subjects were strong. Unfortunately in Munjane, the storyline is very weak. The director's screenplay and the placement of songs add salt to the woes of the audience. The worst of all is the climax of the film. After dragging the movie for close to 110 minutes, the director unhesitatingly extends the final part and wraps up in an irritating way. However, the only silver line in the film is the picturisation of songs. Three numbers have been shot using advanced graphics and special effects, which is the sole highlight of the movie.