Director: Shashank
Cast: V. Ravichandran, Ganesh, Neha Shetty, Ravishankar, Sadhu Kokila, Tabala Nani
Even Picasso himself would have failed to repeat his masterstroke, if he was asked to paint one of his famous art work, for the second time! Well, it reminds of the saying by John D. Rockefeller, one of world's richest man - "If you want to succeed you should strike out on new paths, rather than travel the worn paths of accepted success." However, it is always the most daring ones, who accept such challenges, and for that feat alone, the director needs to be appreciated for accepting it as a challenge making the sequel to one of the most popular film for a decade now. But unfortunately the sequel which intends to 'quench' and 'drench' with excitement, ends up resulting in boredom while music and the background score being the biggest drawback apart from the 'royal' dull experience.
Even before talking about the sequel, it becomes inevitable to know why Mungaru Male directed by Yograj Bhat became such a huge popular film. The first and foremost successful component of the prequel is the melodious music scored by the genius Mano Murthy, then it is the dialogues followed by beautiful picturisation. Later, comes the characters portrayed by veteran Anant Nag and Ganesh, who were too good on screen and most of all - it was the 'rain' and 'rabbit' which played the symbolic characters. All of this, and the simple love story ending on a high sacrificial note resulted created the success called - Mungaru Male. It gave birth to golden star, the male hudugi and finally cementing Yograj Bhat as a successful director, who still drenched in the success rain.
Coming back to the sequel, almost all the 'success' components are a big miss here. If this was not a sequel and an original like 'Krishna Leela' directed by Shashank, it would have been a far better experience. It was indeed too much to ask for, while considering the level of huge expectations, comparing to the magnanimity of Mungaru Male, from one of the decent directors, who definitely has a strong hold when making originals!
Most of the Hollywood projects actually plan sequels ahead even before the success of the first part of their ventures, however it is the success of the first part which drives the producers here to attempt for the sequel - mostly to make profit by making use of the successful brand. This is why almost all the great Indian films which were later made as part 2, and 3 have utterly failed and sequel based on Sholay is the living example with even mavericks like Ram Gopal Verma is still trying to douse off the fire after making 'RGV ki Aag'.
The character - Preetham (Ganesh) continues with some fresh plot ultimately leading to the older one. He is still the son of a filthy rich man (played by Crazy Star Ravichandran) but this time, there is no mother. A cool guy from the present age, lives for excitement and once he gets bored of something, he smoothly detaches himself from it pretty quickly. He does finds someone who eventually excites him, and he falls in love. But as usual it's too late.
The first half reminds of several Bollywood movies and it never takes off. When it actually starts to rain, the excitement is already over. A couple of scenes are brilliantly shot, and the rest looks ordinary. The debutant actress Neha Shetty has tried her best and Ganesh is at his usual style of acting. So, is Preetham forced to sacrifice his love again in this one 2? Watch it if you are a big Mungaru male fan. However, it's the Mano Murthy's tune which still haunts and not the Arjun Janya's. Hard luck for Shashank!
