Lucky Man
Kannada (Theatres)
Director: Nagendra Prasad
Cast: Puneeth Rajkumar, Darling Krishna, Sadhu Kokila, Sangeetha Sringeri
Rating: 3/5
In 'Lucky Man', two childhood friends (Darling Krishna and Sangeetha Sringeri) realise they are in a loveless relationship after a year of marriage. A remake of the 2020 Tamil romantic comedy 'Oh My Kadavule', the film has Puneeth Rajkumar in a pivotal role.
Puneeth plays God in the film. This allows the makers to incorporate several meta references to his personality, and image among the masses and include references from his popular films. At one point, Puneeth Rajkumar’s face is superimposed on images of several Gods. This is almost like the wishful thinking of fans coming to fruition on screen. The decision of the makers to use Puneeth’s pilot audio as opposed to bringing in his brother Shivrajkumar or a dubbing artiste gives us another, perhaps the last opportunity, to hear his voice in theatres.
The God in 'Lucky Man' is an extension of the demigod like image of the star, and it's done to drive people to theatres. The original, however, had excelled in an unconventional depiction of God.
In the Tamil film, Vijay Sethupathi took a comedic approach playing God. He was a clumsy alcoholic. His sidekick was not a punching bag as seen in the Kannada film.
One of the best scenes in the original was a well-staged argument scene. In the remake, the scene is covered by basic mid-close-ups and mid-longs. However, cinematographer Jeeva Shankar flexes his skills when the characters take a trip to Gokarna as the picturesque regions of Karnataka are beautifully captured on camera.
'Lucky Man' by Nagendra Prasad is a decent remake but the director could have taken more creative decisions to make the film stand out from the original. The music is underwhelming.
The film concludes with a dance number where Prabhudeva shakes a leg with Puneeth Rajkumar. It reaffirms the fact that the Kannada film industry also lost one of its best dancers. It is overwhelming to watch the behind-the-scene footage that plays out when the end credits roll. We get to see the trademark conviction and enthusiasm of the 'Power Star'.