'Kencha' yet another cliched potboiler (Kannada Film Review)

Film: 'Kencha'; Director: P.N. Sathya; Cast: Prajwal Devaraj, Pragna, Tilak, Sharath Lohithashwa, Bhavya, Lakshman and P.N. Sathya; Music: Rajesh Ramanath; Rating: *

Director P.N. Sathya's 'Kencha', which has Prajwal Devaraj in the lead role, has an age-old storyline and the narration too is drab. Prajwal seems to have chosen yet another wrong film.

Sathya, whose recent 'Hodi Maga' too fell flat, dishes out another below average potboiler in 'Kencha'.

The film's cliched story reminds one of many old films of the 70s that revolved around a virtuous son fighting a villainous father.

Sathya has taken too many responsibilities in the film -- writing the script, dialogues and essaying an important role. However, he proves to be a better actor than a director.

'Kencha' clearly proves that established directors like Sathya don't think of fresh concepts. In most of his films the villains are presented in an unrealistically crude fashion and even the other characters are far from natural.

The story is about a college student Rahul, who likes taking up challenges in life. During a motorbike racing competition, he sees a person getting killed by Pashupathi, a dreaded don in the city who has been hired by Giri Gowda, a minister.

Rahul is in love with Shwetha and this irks Ajay, who studies in the same college. Rahul goes to the police when he finds Pashupathi murdering another person. But Pashupathi refuses to cross swords with Rahul despite being pressurised by his friends, because he knows Rahul is his son.

Rahul hates Pashupathi because he feels his father had killed his mother. And this confrontation between Rahul and Pashupathi is exploited by Ajay and the other bad guys. What happens later in the film is very predictable.

Prajwal is shown with a larger-than-life image. But he needs to work in good films and accept characters that suit his age and physique. He is, however, good in fight and dance sequences.

Actress Pragna has little to do. It's sad to see that Pragna, who showed promise in a film like 'Ganesha Maththe Bandha', is reduced to just a glam girl.

A talented actor like Tilak is totally wasted. Sharath Lohithashwa's voice is appealing, but his characterisation defies all logic. Director Sathya has done a fairly good job in a cameo role.

Rajesh Ramanath's music is ordinary, but the song 'Hrudaya' stands out.

On the whole, 'Kencha' is ordinary fare.