The cozy beginning, featuring romantic moments, wafer-thin comedy, family sentiments, and life bonding, flows beautifully in the first half of ‘Pranayam’, a well-composed music-driven film.
Paramesh, the story writer and producer, has crafted a cool and pleasant first half in the directorial debut of Dattatreya. However, after the marriage of Amrutha and Gautham, things go hanky dory.
The twist unfolds unexpectedly before the interval, gripping the audience’s attention. ‘Pranayam’ narrates the tale of two families coming closer through the marriage of Amrutha (Naina Gangoli) and Gautham (Rajavardhan).
The sudden twist in the second half gives room for brains to make guesses. Amrutha comes with Gautham for the honeymoon, but the real Gautham is in the house itself. So who is this fake Gautham? The family members file missing complaints for Amrutha. That adds further confusion.
At the hilly spot in a remote house, Amrutha is with Gautham – they are having a good time, but all is not well in the imagination of Amrutha. The story goes back to the flashback days of Amrutha in her college days.
Enters Datthu, a close friend of Amrutha on the college campus! Datthu dies in a road accident, and Amrutha is an eyewitness. On the spot, she also knows that Datthu is in love with her. But it is one-sided love.
Imagine the ‘Atma’ of Datthu haunting Amrutha in the second half, and further, how she comes out from the clutches for the climax.
The film has excellent cinematography from Nagesh Acharya – his frames, mist-filled shots, top angles, close-ups, and moving shots of nature deserve an award for him. Equally competent is ‘Mungaru Male’ fame music director Mano Murthy – The songs are backed by lovely actors, and the cinematography enhances the quality. Three of Mano Murthy’s songs are mesmerizing.
Rajavardhan, playing a lover boy coming from America in this film ‘Pranayam’, has good Pranayam scenes with Naina Gangoli—the action portions Rajavardhan has done with ease and guts.
Naina Gangoli is in her romantic best moments. At places, she has overreacted but fits the role perfectly. Supporting actors Manthana, Sameeksha, Priya Tarun, Prashanth, and comedian Govinde Gowda have emoted well in this film.
Producer Paramesh has not failed in giving a convincing film for family audiences in the past, and he continues his foray into family films.
