Mungaru Male

Can a good film be made with only some high technical values? This question comes to the mind whenever we see some films made with lot of grandeur and glitz falling short of expectations because of weak presentation. Every one in the film industry agrees that the script is by far the most important part of a film and it is the foundation on which the entire strength of the product is built. But we see many young directors falls a prey to technical values and think that well captured sequences and finely tuned choreographic numbers are the essential ingredients of a film. The film under review 'Mungaru Male' (The mansoon rain) raises the same questions.
'Mungaru Male' has no story element as such as the whole narration stands on a very thin line. It may be like a very small story told with high-sounding meaningless and lifeless words.
The good points of 'Mungaru Male' include the fantastic songs composed by Mano Murthy of USA (It is really surprising to see that this gentleman who stays in America is giving consistently good music for many Kannada films he has worked) and good camera work by Krishna. The major portion of the film is shot in outdoors in the background of rain and it has a spectacular look on screen. And the dance directors have also worked well. But the main weakness of the film lies in its lopsided script which goes haywire in the second half of the film. But for some lighter elements in the first half, the film could have ended as a big bore from scene one. Director Yogaraj Bhatt who showed lot of promise in his first film 'Mani' utterly fails to deliver what was expected from him.
A city bred youth Preetham is fascinated by a girl whom he sees. To his surprise he sees the same girl in distant Kodagu where he accompanies his mother for a marriage. Though Preetham knows that her marriage is fixed in a week, he falls for her. Even the girl challenges him. Finally when both of them want their love to be cemented, there comes a twist. And finally Preetham is reconciled to the fact that the girl has to marry a groom who has been engaged to her.
The main draw back of this film is the weak characterization of the heroine and the villain. The newly introduced heroine Sanjana Gandhi makes a mess of her opportunity and fails to emote. The director seems to be totally confused as to how the film is to end and has dragged the film to test the patience of the viewers. The background score is also a minus point in the film
Ganesh has worked hard to deliver a lively performance. The heroine in wasted. Anant Nag shines in his role.
If your desire is restricted to watching two good songs and well photographed outdoor spots, then 'Mungaru Male' will be your cup of tea. Otherwise you can give a miss.