Film: Ammana mane
Cast: Raghavendra Rajkumar, Rohini Nagesh, Nikhil Manjoo, Sheetal Hemanth
Director: Nikhil Manjoo
Rating: 2.7/5
Ammana Mane is Nikhil Manjoo's ode to mother-son relationships, focusing on a mother-son drama about children who fail to take care of their parents, with a realistic setting and natural performances that make the film relatable.
The story revolves around a mother and her physically-challenged son. They are abandoned by the father, who fails to deliver the special attention required by his son.
This intensifies the son's bond with his mother. How he takes care of his elderly mother in her illness and deals with problems in the family and the society forms the crux of the story.
The narrative is neither unique nor will it keep you on the edge of your seat, but there is a strong message.
This slow-paced movie may not cater to the likes of those who like commercial cinema.
Coming back to the silver screen after 14 years, Raghavendra Rajkumar brings life to the role of Rajeeva. He seemed to give his best as the traits and the story of Raajeva was similar to that of his.
The other actors do justice to their respective parts. What irked me is that despite being a significant characters in the story, Rajeeva's wife (Manasi Sudhir) and his mother (Rohini Nagesh) wasn't given much screen time. A lot of the screen time was taken by Nikhil Manjoo for a parallel narrative.
The team didn't get too creative with the technical aspects given the moderate budget. Only one song (sung by Raghavendra Rajkumar) was played wherever they felt it is necessary for the film.
In conclusion, this small project with a big star is a good attempt at portraying the daily family drama that one witnesses.