Movie Iniya - Review

Director Mahesh entered the Kannada film industry through the movie Mussanje Maathu, featuring Sudeep and Ramya in lead. His debut venture was successful at the Box Office. Now Mahesh has teamed up with Ravichandran"s brother Balaji for the movie Iniya, which is nothing but old wine in a new bottle. The promising director seems to have failed in handling the script.

Movie Iniya is a family-oriented sentimental love story. The highlights of the movie are Balaji's wonderful performance, Sundaranath Suvarna"s camera work, V shridhar"s music, Ravi Varma"s stunts and Mahesh"s punch dialogues. Despite having all these aspects the movie fails to create interest among the audience just because of weak script.

Although the director has tried to fill in all the commercial elements like comedy, sentimental and fight sequences in the movie, the weak script has been unconvincing on screen. He has failed to exhibit his sentimental angle onscreen. Even mother's sentiment falls flat because of many unrelated sequences.

The film is totally anti-feminist. The male chauvinistic angle is given a platform through this film. There are lot of punch dialogues, which question the integrity and commitment of a woman towards love.

The movie starts with the flash back story. Balu (Balaji) belongs to a big joint family headed by a patriarch. He falls in love with his cousin"s friend Janaki (Pooja Gandhi). During a picnic, he saves her from rowdies, but he is sent to jail for a year for beating the rowdy badly. While he is in the prison, his mother is thrown out of the house and his lover Janaki is married to another person. What happens next will form the climax part of the movie.

Earlier, in movies like Eeshwar and Rajkumari, Balaji was criticized for his weak performance. But he has definitely improved his acting in the movie Iniya. He seems to have taken whole responsibility of the movie on his shoulder. He shines in action as well as climax sequences.

However, the film Iniya is handicapped by a faulty characterization. Mungaru Male fame actress Pooja Gandhi fails to impress the audiences due to her weak characterization. Even talented actors like Sanketh Kashi, Urvashi and Jai Jagadish have been wasted in the film due to their weak characterization.

Even Mussanje Maathu fame Shridhar"s music has failed to create interest among the audiences. The theme music of Bollywood movie Fashion and two other songs like 'Yaarannu', 'Muddaada Ee Naguvige' are good to listen. Sundaranatha Suvarna's cinematography is another highlight of the movie.

In a nut shell, the movie Iniya is a show of actor Balaji. If you are a fan of him, then don"t miss the movie.

Producer: Shailendra Babu

Director: Mahesh

Cast: Balaji, Pooja Gandhi, Urvashi, Lokhanath, Sanketh Kashi, Jai Jagadish and others

Music: Shridhar