JOIN USVictory
Kannada (U) ¬¬¬
Director: Nanda Kishora
Cast: Sharan, Asmita Sood, Tabla Nani, Ravishankar, Avinash and others
Chandru is running in the dark and worried people in the neighbourhood follow him to find out the matter. It soon becomes evident that he is scared and couldn’t reach home all by himself. Why, the outraged people ask and Victory unravels.
Sharan’s second outing as solo hero, Victory is an out and out entertainer.
Misunderstanding, heartbreak, suicide attempts going awry, numerous twists and turns, supari deals, lookalikes, dialogues that make an effort to stay clean while providing a few smiles, if not outright belly laughs... Nanda Kishora handles each element well, giving the required amount of attention. But the main work is done by the actors themselves. Difficult to recall such effort in recent times, an ensemble consisting fine comedians, and a villain or two, has come up with a believable and enjoyable work.
The credits roll with Girija Lokesh, the Lady Boss-like granny of the heroine who can punch the living daylights out of anyone, including her dead husband; Tabla Nani as Chandru’s deaf uncle whose “ability” creates several hilarious situations, Ravishankar, fine-tuning his flair for comedy as the hapless don Mafia who’s out to kill Chandru for the thrill of it, mimicry Dayanand as the astrologer, Sadhu Kokila as Inspector Sadhu Gowda with Kuri Prathap as the constable — all of them do their jobs as much as required, which lifts the plot (M S Srinath) high up. Asmita Sood, the heroine, is pretty and confident while Sharan doesn’t take himself seriously as a hero — yet, which works for him again.
Shekhar Chandra’s camerawork is slick and beautiful and Arjun Janya loses himself to the beats, like all the paddes-old and young, who jive to khaali quartru... and others while Sonu Nigam’s soulful Kanna minche... concedes gracefully.
Victory, however, leaves two questions unanswered: One, was the Akka nin maglu song really necessary? Second, who played Chandru’s aunt — Sharan himself or...?