Time to listen to the heart

NinnindaleKannada (U) ***Director: Jayanth C ParanjiCast: Puneeth Rajkumar, Erica Fernandes and others

The signs were first noticed in Jacob Verghese’s Prithvi. Pretty soon, there were enough releases, delectable and plain exasperating, that showed Puneeth was serious in breaking out of the image created in the initial stages of his career. 

In Jayanth C Paranji, he seems to have found another person who is sure of what he wants. And gets it with minimum fuss, consequences (like a resenting audience or fan looking mainly for “dishoom dishoom”) be damned. Ninnindale, indeed, has no strong story. No powerful music either (if the beats are discounted). The lead actress is way too skinny and sometimes Puneeth reminds strongly of his father, revealing that gravity has made itself home in his features. There’s precious little that people like Avinash, Thulasi, Achyut Kumar, Padma Vasanthi, Sadhu Kokila, Avinash (), Thilak, Vinayak Joshi and others do. The stunts performed by Puneeth were also not that necessary. Or were they?

Ninnindale seems to have broken a few moulds and is fresh, fresh and mint fresh. In terms of casting, in terms of pushing the envelope and sticking to a way of film making (that has come into vogue) that depends solely on the completely sure youths who are not interested in dealing with or making their lives more complex than they already are. 

After this ground rule has been established, it becomes easy to get down to business. Ninnindale is simply told, the tale of a man who’s forced to acknowledge that time, ambition, approach – everything has to make way for matters of the heart. The narration, though slowing down around interval, seems to be making up, even introducing the Sadhu Kokila segment unnecessarily or may be it was necessary for plot development. 

The viewer is forced to look for a story (that he/she has long been used to in Kannada films) while acknowledging the episodes that can recur in anybody’s life; only the setting is different. 

The film team’s success lies in making most feel just this. For once, the episodes are presented well and only as required.

Mani Sharma’s music is not great, but suits the milieu quite well. Two songs are hummable and Vinda and team’s camerawork is praiseworthy. M S Ramesh’s dialogues too keep pace with time. Erica Fernandes is a lady to watch out for. One can expect her to romance not just Darshan and Sudeep, but also hold her own against Mahesh Babu, Prabhas, Prithviraj and others! 

Story-wise, Ninnindale is no great shakes, but hey, you can enjoy and learn–just a bit!