Tenali Rama - Going to Dubai Kannada Movie

Dec 9, 2006 By RGV

"Tenali Rama" is the second film from producer S.V.Babu who also had earlier produce "Honey Moon Express'". "Tenali Rama" is also intended to make people laugh and enjoy in the theatre. It follows the same pattern of narrative as seen in the "Honey Moon Express" which had no logic as such in the story content. The story and script of both these films have been remixed from some enjoyable sequences in some non Kannada films, particularly from Tamil and Marati.

Tenali Rama's main story content has been lifted from a Tamil film featuring Pandya Rajan and S.V.Shekhar. Ramesh Arvind is a B.Com first class graduate, while Jaggesh is an S.S.L.C holder and both of them are lured by a fake employment agent who tells them that he will take them to Dubai. The same way in the Tamil film Pandya Rajan and S.V.Shekhar are also lured by a fake agent and the ship goes to the shores of Cochin, while in the Kannada film it is Goa where the heroes land up.

A huge publicity build up for the film had also created lot of curiosity about the film. But the film as such does not reflect the perceptions of the film's producer and the director. Yes, the film is quite enjoyable in the first half. But it is in the second half that the narration falters. There are too many weak links in the second half that it will end up as a big bore. The film's second half has too many unnecessary and lengthy sequences which could have been edited sharply and could have been presented in a nice way. The narration of the film suddenly takes several twists and turns which often confuse the viewers. Director Nagendra Magadi has not done his homework properly and ends up directing a poor script. He seems to have solely depended on the histrionics of his two lead stars that have been able to maintain a good comedy timing in the film.

Ramesh and Jaggesh have done their roles creditably and are able to evoke laughter through their comedy timing and funny dialogue deliveries. Deepu has limited opportunities in the film to prove anything. The case of other two heroines is similar to that of Deepu. Rangayana Raghu, Dharma and other villains who have tried to lace in comedy elements in their performance have partially been successful in their endeavor. It is Komal who steals the show.

Music Director R.P.Patnayak has done good background score, but his music composition is ordinary. Nothing could be said exclusively about the technical departments of the film.

"Tenali Rama" is an ordinary film which could have been better presented.