'Chellidharoo Sampigeyaa' - neat entertainer, great music

Film: 'Chellidharoo Sampigeyaa'; Director: S. Narayan; Cast: Anant Nag, Prashanth, Biyaanka Desai, Vishwas, Spoorthi, Doddanna, Sundarraj and Jayaram; Music: S. Narayan; Rating: ***

Veteran filmmaker S. Narayan is a multi-faceted personality. Apart from directing films, he writes his own scripts and has now begun composing music and writing lyrics too.

The director is known for making good films based on his own stories and also choose interesting movies of other languages to remake them in Kannada.

'Chellidharoo Sampigeyaa', a remake of Telugu Hit 'Chandamama' by Krishna Vamshi, is a neat presentation from Narayan. He has roped in not so well-known lead artistes, but manages to keep audiences watching with a gripping narration.

It isn't an unusual story, but the way it has been narrated with all the commercial ingredients makes it a winner. The story does have predictable twists and turns, but it still makes an impact because of the pleasing visuals and melodious music.

Despite being a remake, 'Chellihdaroo Sampigeyaa' bears the stamp of Narayan. The dialogues and music of the film are certain to please viewers. The filmmaker has been able to extract wonderful work from new cameraman Jagadish Waali, who has excelled in capturing the beauty of many locations.

The music component of the Kannada film is much better than the Telugu original. Even the dance choreography is well handled.

Anant Nag's strong performance remains the best part of the film. The two actresses -Biyaanka and Spoorthi - have chipped in with decent performances.

But there are a few things that may not go well with audiences. Some sequences are crude as it has characters shout from the rooftops. Despite getting noticed for their performances, the two lead actors are found wanting in the emotional sequences.

The film revolves around Swami Gowda, a village head with a golden heart, who is looking for a match for his daughter Sowmya. After consultations, he finds a right match in Puttaraju, the son of a brash and arrogant Made Gowda.

Puttaraju is much liked by Swami Gowda for his behaviour, but there is a hitch. Sowmya later reveals to Puttaraju that she was in love with a guy called Kishor during her college days who later ditched her.

Puttaraju then puts on an act to postpone the marriage and then goes to the city to trace Kishor. He brings Kishor to the village to arrange a meeting with Sowmya where all the misunderstandings between them get cleared. But Sowmya is afraid to reveal her love for Kishor to her father.

In a thrilling climax, all the confusions are cleared and Swami Gowda gets his daughter married to Kishor. And Puttaraju marries Rani, Swami Gowda's niece.

Prashanth has really improved in his acting and fits into Puttaraju's role. Vishwas, who acted in the recently released 'Jolly Days', acts well too, but one feels they could have done better.

Biyanka Desai and Spoorthi have done a wonderful job in their respective roles. Spoorthi is bound to go places.

But it is Anant Nag who deserves to be rated as the best performer. He really moves the audience into tears with his dialogue delivery and expressive performance. Veteran actors Doddanna, Sundar Raj, Jayaram have also done their best.

Narayan's music compositions are top class. Songs like 'Arerere Hrudaya', 'Warrantaa Warrantaa', 'Gelathi' and 'Yaarivalu' are enjoyable and are well choreographed.

'Chellidharoo Sampigeyaa' wins with its neat narration and is a clean entertainer.