Ale Review: Love and justice served at last

Kannada (U) **1/2
Director: Gopi Kiran
Cast: Thanush, Harshika and others

Boy falls on girl after slipping, they even kiss accidentally. He apologises and goes on apologising. She is fed up but melts when she sees him bashing up the bad guys trying to harm her kid brother (?). So far, it’s a smooth ride. Or is it?

True to its title, Ale crashes with tremendous force upon the audience but leaves just as quickly. As has been the norm these days, neither chief director Gopi Kiran nor director Aadath has managed to string together a passable story.

There is no rhyme or reason for what passes off as screenplay. A mix of love triangle, some innuendos in the guise of comedy and a flashback segment craving for revenge, Ale could have benefited by some deft handling of sequences.

Mano Murthy’s music is a throwback to yesteryear but sadly does not gel with the song picturisation. Two songs do manage to catch attention. Some of the dialogues seem to have sneaked past the censor radar and are lapped up by a mostly college-going audience. Aakula’s camerawork and the colour mixing are not up to scratch while K M Prakash’s cuts are smooth.

Among actors, debutants Thanush and Aviva impress — to an extent.
With a prominent nose and a fresher’s nervousness Thanush takes time to settle but comes to life when pounding the goons to a pulp.

Petrol Prasanna is confident and does little except screaming all the time. Bullet Prakash has a cameo while actress Bhavani Prakash is effective in the limited role she’s offered.

The Harshika-producers spat over promoting Aviva was a good move publicity-wise.
Prasad Bidapa’s girl makes a confident debut but is hampered by her inability to speak Kannada naturally in limited screenspace. Harshika, though, has a real blast.

She is unrestrained and at times, literally throws away the opportunity to turn an ordinary role into something better with a disciplined performance, her voice modulation being responsible here. What was promised doesn’t translate into reality on the big screen.

Overall, this Ale leaves behind disappointment in its wake.