Akash Kannada

Starring: Puneeth Rajkumar, Ashish Vidyarthi, Ramya, Aashita, Kishore, Pavitra Lokesh, Avinash
Director: Mahesh Babu
Producer: Sri Parvatamma Rajkumar
Music Dir: R.P. Patnayak
Lyricist: K Kalyan
Singers: Kunal Ganjawala, K.S. Chitra, Rajesh Krishnan, Puneeth Rajkumar, Udit Narayan, Shreya Ghoshal
Distributor: Sri Ganesh
Genre: Romance, Action

Synopsis
Akash (Puneeth Rajkumar) is a delightful and very outspoken character who has the ability to keep everyone happy, and to help organise everything around him. We are introduced to him as a wedding videographer. He has the art of flattering everyone in a way that makes them feel good about themselves, and makes them happy. He suggests to the bride, Rani, that she alter her make-up slightly, and she will look even better. When Nandini, also known as Nandu (Ramya), the bride?s best friend arrives, he tells her not to sit in the front row, or the groom will want to marry her instead. Then later, he tells her to ignore what he said, saying that if the groom sees her and still marries her friend, then he will make a good husband, and look after her. He also helps solve problems ? when the orchestra does not turn up for the wedding, he organises everyone into a song and dance routine. When the groom arrives, he seems to recognise him. He disappears, then comes back with a videocassette of a wedding he had filmed previously, with the same groom. The groom attacks him, but Akash is more than a match for him, and then the police arrive and arrest the groom. Akash tells the girl and her family that she will get a much better husband.
Akash lives with his sister Asha (Aashita), for whom he is looking for a good husband, but she says she will not marry until a sister-in-law comes into the house!
Nandini lives with her two brothers ? Dayanand (Avinash) and his wife, Uma (Pavitra Lokesh): and Chidanand (Kishore) and his wife, Shobha. Kishore always spends an hour in the morning in meditation, and will not let anything disturb that time.
At breakfast Nandini tells them about what happened at the wedding, and says that when she gets married, she wants the same videographer. She tells her brothers she wants to take driving lessons: they agree. Dayanand says later to his brother that if they give into her every little wish, she will have to accept their big wish to marry a boy of their choice. Next morning, she goes out to the car for her first lesson - the instructor is Akash. She is wearing jeans and a white shirt ? he tells her she would look better in a ?Churidhar? (traditional Indian Dress). She goes and changes and comes back for her first lesson. During the third lesson, they stop - a crowd has gathered round a young man who says he is going to set fire to himself, because he has a B.A., and no job ? the Government should find him a job. Akash tells him not to commit suicide, but to go and find a job, any job ? saying that if he kills himself, no-one would care. Later in the film, that young man meets him and tells him that his mother makes very good pickles, and he has started a business selling them.
Dayanand has a phone-call from his brother-in-law, whose daughter has eloped two days before her arranged marriage was to take place. He says that the boy she has eloped with must be found and killed, and he makes arrangements to have this done.
Rani comes to see Nandini ? Akash has given photos of two good proposals to her father. She says Akash is a very nice boy. But he has said some uncomplimentary things about Nandini?s driving. Nandini is furious, and on the next lesson, she drives recklessly and crashes into a tree. He is angry ? she thinks it is because she has wrecked the car, but he tells her that it is because she might have got a scar on her face, and spoiled her beauty. He loses his job, as he will not pass the repair bill to Nandini ? he says that an accident is the responsibility of the instructor. She finds this out from Asha, who also tells her that he is now a swimming coach. So Nandini tells her brothers she needs to learn to swim, and gets swimming lessons from Akash. In all this the bond of friendship between them gradually deepens.
Then one day, her brothers tell her they have arranged her marriage. And at the same time, Akash arranges Asha?s marriage to his close friend, Vishal, who is in love with Asha.
Chidanand sees Asha roaming with Akash, and they dance together at her New Year?s party, so he sends some thugs to beat up Akash, who has to be admitted to hospital, where Asha and Nandini both come to help look after him. Nandini?s brothers see this, and send thugs to break up Asha?s engagement ceremony with Vishal. Akash, when he hears about this goes to Nandini?s house, and beats up her brothers, only to be stopped by the arrival of Nandini, who now realises she is in love with Akash. However, her brothers send Nandini to Hubli, to her friend Rani?s wedding, Akash gets on the same train, When the brothers see this, they assume that Nandini and Akash have eloped, whereas Akash is going to see Vishal, to persuade him to marry Asha. The brothers phone Suri, at an intermediate station, and tell him to arrange to have the boy with Nandini murdered. However, Nandini and Akash are still unaware of the other?s presence on the train. Another boy, Devu, a womaniser, has got on the train, and is behaving improperly with Nandini. He is murdered in error. Devu?s father (Ashish Vidyarthi) manages to find those responsible, and tortures them until they reveal who sent them to commit murder.
Will Vishal marry Asha? Will Nandini succeed in convincing Akash of her love, and will he marry her? What will her brothers do? What will Devu?s father do in revenge?
Shobha phones Hubli to tell her sister-in-law and Nandini that Akash has been murdered on the orders of Nandini?s brothers. Nandini is distraught, until her sister-in-law tells her Akash is still alive, and that she has just seen him. Devu?s father arrives at Nandini?s wedding, and says that he is the groom, he will marry Nandini so that she can provide him with an heir....

Songs:
1. Nagu nagutivaga
2. Hodi hodi hodi dhol
3. Oh! Maria ? Life is crazy
4. Aaha yenta ashana
5. Neene neene nangella
6. Araleethu mana

Released Year: 2006
Running Time: 150 minutes/Colour/Kannada


Review
?Akash? was made Dr. Raj Kumar?s production company, produced by Ms. Parvathamma Raj Kumar, the wife of Dr. Raj Kumar. It is a love story, of poor boy Akash, and rich girl, Nandini. Akash loves his sister, Asha, very deeply, and woe betide anyone who messes with her. However, ?Akash? is very different from the usual such romances in Indian films. In this story, the couple become friends, good friends. It is obvious that the girl is slowly and gradually falling in love with the boy, who is unaware of this, as is she. Then suddenly she realises she is in love with him. But by this stage it would seem to be too late, as her two brothers have shown how nasty they can be, even having gone to the extent of arranging murder of a boy that the brother-in-law?s daughter had eloped with, just before her wedding.
Puneeth Rajkumar is excellent as usual, action hero, and also in a role he suits, the role of someone who cares about, and who is always trying to help others even at a cost to himself (cf. ?Milana?, ?Vamshi?).
Ramya is excellent as a girl who is slowly and imperceptibly falling in love, without being aware of it. This is seen particularly in the close-ups, where her expression gets warmer each time. Pavitra Lokesh plays the one member of Nandini?s family who is sympathetic to her needs, and Aashita is excellent as the loving sister of Akash. Avinash and Kishore (a former lecturer and fashion designer, who came into the industry by chance) play the nasty brothers of Nandini, and Ashish Vidyarthi (better known for his roles of villain in Hindi and Telugu films) completes the excellent trio of ?baddies?!

The songs are varied. ?Nagu nagutivaga? is a very energetic song and dance routine, with everyone having a good time, at the wedding that did not take place! ?Hodi hodi hodi dhol? (Beat the drum) is a song at a public festival. ?Oh! Maria ? Life is crazy? is an on-stage song by Akash at Nandini?s New Year Party, with a number of dancers: the choreography is acrobatic dancing, such as we are used to seeing in Telugu films. ?Aaha yenta ashana? is a love-song with Akash and Nandini, filmed in spring in Austria, with the snow on the ground in the mountains. ?Neene neene nangella? is a love-song with Akash and Nandini, filmed in Innsbruck in Austria. ?Araleethu mana? is a song where Akash remembers some of the sweet moments he spent with Nandini.

4 stars

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