MaanikyaKannada (U/A) ¬¬¬
Director: Sudeep
Cast: Sudeep, Ravichandran, Ravishanker, Ranya and others
Warring families and villages, simpering but fiesty girls, handsome guys endowed with large dollops of wit and brawn and yesteryear heroes lending quiet dignity to their supporting roles... Kannada industry has adopted this formula with glee, having found success every now and then.
Sudeep brings Mirchi as Maanikya before the Kannada audience. On a roll for the past few years, the actor lets the director in him eclipse his performance, which is not a bad thing at all. Pulling out a few tricks out of his conjurer's bag, Sudeep ensures his wife's maiden (?) co-production doesn't fall below audience expectation.
His trademark mannerisms are kept to a minimum while his slow smile melts many a girl's heart easily.
Song and fight conceptualisation also does not miss a beat. With some serious moolah thrown in, there are no complaints in the art department either. Some of Ravi Srivatsa’s dialogues are drowned in seetis and claps of boisterous fans but are par for the course. Action scenes too bolster Sudeep's image nicely while making the audience fall in love with Ravishanker's raw energy and “punching” dialogue delivery, all over again.
A role a la Devaraj's Huliya in the offing anytime soon, perhaps?
Ranya and Varalakshmi Sharathkumar are no Milana Nagaraj and Karthika respectively, of Brindavana, but a few elements are common to the two films. Still, Ranya gets the meatier part while Varalakshmi gets the hero.
There are people like Ashok, Satyajit, Chitra Shenoy, Rekha V Kumar, Veena Sundar, Padma Vasanthi, Avinash and Shobhraj playing their parts well with the still ravishing Ramya Krishna playing mom to Sudeep.
And then there is the Crazy Star. His crow's nest peppered liberally with grey and a pair of glasses perched atop his nose bridge, Ravichandran looks more like a mature Chikkejamanru than father to the lanky Sudeep. Of course, both the actors bring that special something for the little screen space they get and expectations rise – for a repeat of what Ambarish and Sudeep showed in Veera Parampare.
But that's not to be. For one, the film, though lengthy, races through the scenes, leaving little time for appreciating subtle niceties. Also leaving little by way of 'getting the feel'. This becomes evident towards the end of flashback narration. Barring this blemish, Maanikya is an easy entertainer.
Arjun Janya's songs do not exactly burn the charts but Shekhar Chandra's camerawork is worth the money.
Sudeep's fans will surely have no complaints with Maanikya.