Preetse

By Vani Nagendrappa

CAST         ---------- UPENDRA, SHIV RAJ KUMAR, SONALI BENDRE
MUSIC        ---------- HAMSALEKHA
DIRECTION ---------- D RAJENDRA BABU
PRODUCER ---------- ROCK LINE VENKATESH

"She loves me - loves me not; loves me - loves me not...." Standing on the top of Bangalore's tallest building, Chandru (Upendra) gets back his spirit to live as he ends up with the petal saying 'she loves me'. No, it is not love; it is just his obsession.

Chandru is mesmerised by the stunning Kiran (Sonali Bendre), his college mate. Unable to express his love, he starts making anonymous calls to her in a haunting voice saying, 'I love you, Kiran'. He talks about his love only to his dead mother over the phone, whom he loves deeply. He plays all possible tricks to make Kiran aware of his love. But Kiran, oblivious to all this, is in love with Surya (Shiv Raj Kumar), who works in the Navy. Eventually, they tie the knot also. Chandru, who is obsessed with Kiran is unable to digest this and goes to the extent of even killing Surya to get his love.

A remake of Yash Chopra's Darr, Preetse can be compared to the original. Upendra has done a good job as a psychopath (played by Shah Rukh Khan in Darr), although not comparable to the superstar of Bollywood. His already established image seems to have hindered his role to a certain extent. Shiv Raj Kumar and Sonali Bendre are very convincing.

The song Jaadoo Teri Nazar, which plays in the background in the original version, has been effectively replaced by the high-pitched title number 'Preetse, Preetse - Kannu Mucchi Nanna Preetse....' Other songs with music and lyrics by Hamsalekha are hummable too.

The songs, shot in Australia for the first time in the history of Kannada cinema, are a feast. Director D Rajendra Babu has once again proved his merit. Talking about creativity maybe out of place in a scene to scene remake like this. With a few unplugged holes here and there, it is a good production, the first of its kind in Kannada moviedom.

Other reviews...