Rathnan Prapancha – Kannada Movie Review

Genre: Drama
Duration: 2 h 27 min
CBFC Rating: U/A
Director: Rohit Padaki
Cast: Umashree, Dhananjaya, Pramod Panju, Shruti, Achyuth Kumar, Rajesh Nataranga, Ashok Sharma, Anu Prabhakar Mukherjee, Ravishankar Gowda, Vainidhi Jagdish, Reba Monica John

“A meaningful film about mother-son bonding bound to bring tears to your eyes!”

In 2017, Director Rohit Padaki had brought out a wonderful anthology film, ‘Dayavittu Gamanisi’ having a realistic feel and a no-nonsense approach wherein the viewer could relate closely to the different characters in the film. In this film which is his 2nd one, he recreates quite an identical experience and goes on to tell a heart-warming story about a man and the relationship with his mother.

This film tells the adorable story of a middle class guy named Rathnakara who lives with his mother Saroja. He leads an awkward life and struggles to cope up with his mother’s persistent pampering and her annoying childlike tantrums. And then comes an eventual twist in Rathnakara’s life which compels him to leave home and go on a self exploratory journey. You need to watch this movie to know what exactly causes him to take up this step and how he traverses through it.

The film has some remarkable sequences where you get to encounter the vibrant humour paired with some heart-touching moments, creating a wonderful charm that instantly pulls you in. Also this film has one of the most powerful and hard hitting climax scenes one would get to see in Kannada cinemas in the recent times. It shows rather exceptionally that there’s no relationship that is stronger and more sincere than the one between a mother and her son.

The film’s screenplay is decently paced. It surely is intriguing in the first half of the film and sets the expectation for a really exciting watch till the end. However the second half doesn’t seem to continue with the same energy. It lags a little due to some melodramatic sequences and a dance number which could have probably been trimmed off, for a more tighter screenplay. Also some of the scenes should have been shot slowly, giving slightly more time for the viewer to get a feel out of the characterisation.

The music is one of the highlights of this film. The background music is really outstanding and the song “Alemaariye” resounds in your heart. The beautiful cinematography complements the music magnificently and takes the brilliant cinematic experience to an even higher level!

When it comes to the acting department, Umashree is the heart and soul of this movie and she wins your heart with an exceptional, award winning performance! Dhananjaya has given one of his best performances and he re-enacts the soft role which he performed in Eradane Sala. He proves that he can act effortlessly in any role. Be it in a challenging role like Daali in Tagaru, or the one in Salaga released last week.

Pramod Panju is the other actor who shines in this film and he gives another impressive performance after the one he gave in Premier Padmini. Seasoned actors Shruti and Achyuth Kumar give out notable performances in their respective roles. Reba Monica John’s acting isn’t convincing enough and her voice dubbing also hasn’t come out that well.

All in all this one is a meaningful film to watch with your family. It definitely deserved a big screen release in the theatres. Watching the emotions unfold on the big screen with the surround sound effects would have been an unforgettable experience! Rohit Padaki wins once again and this time with an emotional mother-son story bound to bring tears to the viewer’s eyes.