Apelaboo.....!

Film: 'Jhossh'; Cast: Rakesh, Poorna, Alok, Amit, Akshay, Vishnu, Achyutha, Sreenivasa Prabhu, Thulasi Shivamani, Sudha Belawadi, Karibasavayya; Story-Screenplay-Direction: Shivamani; Producer: Sanjay Babu, S.V. Babu; Camera: Santhosh Kumar Pathaaje; Music Director: Vardhan; Dialogue: B.A. Madhu; Rating: ****

Veteran film director Shivamani makes a grand comeback with youth oriented film 'Jhossh'. The film introduces a number of fresh faces to the Kannada screen. Shivamani had organised an elaborate talent hunt programme to find the right cast for the film.

Shivamani's earlier films were technically good but failed to click at the box office because of weak scripts. But in 'Jhossh', the director has ensured that the script is good. It has surely helped the film.

What makes 'Jhossh' a special film is that all the fresh faces have effectively portrayed their roles. And the film looks real as the narrative ably reflects the aspirations, frustrations, adolescence, dynamism, confusions of the students who have just entered college life.

Shivamani's narrative doesn't deviate from the main goal of showing problems of teens. As a screenplay writer he has managed to hit the bull's eye by packaging real life incidents with some commercial elements.

Santhosh Pathaaje's cinematography is brilliant and is one of the highlights of the film. And debutant music director Vardhan's compositions are also top class. Songs like 'Mera Bharath Mahaan', 'Than thane' and 'Hey maga' are sure to become chartbusters.

The film, however, has a few flaws that could have been avoided. For instance, Robo Ganesh's ragging antics irritate. The first half could have been trimmed. And Sharan's comedy in the first half is not up to the mark.

The film revolves around Rakesh who is very popular among his friends but he doesn't focus on his studies. Rakesh falls in love with his classmate Meena and is so obsessed with her that he spends maximum time wooing her.

But Rakesh has a setback when Meena starts ignoring him to concentrate on her studies after her father counsels her. After being rejected by Meena, Rakesh tries to woo another girl Meera who tells him they can be good friends but she can't marry him because he is not serious about his future.

Finally, Rakesh's friends make him realise his mistakes.

Newcomers Rakesh, Veena, Nithya, Alok, Amit, Akshay, Vishnu and Rambo Ganesh have given good performances. Shivamani has been able to extract the best out of these artistes. Veterans like Ninaasam Achyutha, Sudha Belawadi, Thulasi Shivamani, Sreenivasa Prabhu, Karibasavayya, Jaadhav have adequately supported the young cast members.

'Jhossh' is certainly one of the best original films released in recent days. It is certainly a benchmark for youth oriented films in Kannada. The film has all the elements to attract a large audience.