Love works wonders

Dilwaala
Kannada (U/A) ¬¬¬
Director: Anilkumar
Cast: Sumanth, Radhika Pandit, Ravishankar and others

He’s a toughie who’s keen to hide his past. She’s from the “village” all clued in about values and virtues. They meet in college and sparks fly. After a few near-misses, the couple “declare” themselves and the story finally moves on to the two “dons” who do not mind killing as many people as possible to gain power.

After a two-year gap, producer Shailendra Babu’s son Sumanth returns with Dilwaala. Lavishly mounted sets, an upbeat score coupled with slick camerawork and meticulous editing mark Sumanth’s second outing.

Action choreographers Palaniraj and K D Venkatesh go out of their way to give their hero a tough and ruthless image.

Mohan B Kere’s eye for detail is a plus from the art department. Seasoned, yet fresh looking actors, playing supporting roles is another plus.

Veena Sundar and Jai Jagadish as Radhika’s parents, Sharath Lohitashwa playing father to Sumanth, Ramesh Bhat and Rekha in blink-and-miss roles all led by the versatile Ravi­shankar.

This brother of Saikumar seems to be improving upon the antics of actor Shobhraj, whose villainous role with comic elements was much appreciated in Huli. Here, Ravishankar’s five-minute parody of old and new popular songs has the audience in splits. After waiting for close to two hours, this scene alone infuses life into a dazed cinema hall.

 For, Dilwaala consumes way too many scenes to prove his heart’s worth. The team had vouched for Radhika Pandit’s star power and magic in reviving her co-stars’ fortunes. She props up a much-improved Sumanth alright, but has very little screen time which is disappointing.

As for Sumanth, his earnestness is both his strength and weakness. Forever frowning, his efforts seem wasted but the dance atop the train, his ferociousness while fighting the goons (who are particularly aplenty here) cover up his shortcomings.

The illuminated Brindavan Gardens (or was it Mohan’s work again?) surprises some. Editing could have been crisper though.

Too much of heart doesn’t always work, alas.