BT Rating: (2/5)

Anu Darling!

Movie Review By Raju Shanbhag

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• Anu Movie Photo Gallery

In the climax of the film Anu, Pooja Gandhi is inside a dilapidated building, looking for a serial killer. Before entering the building, she is wearing a black coat and fully covered. Once she enters the building, debutant director Shivaganapati strategically takes off her black coat, leaving her wet and soaked in a white low-neck top; and you will instantly know why the climax of the film is being considered as heart racing, enticing and exciting.

Now, before the puritans aim their guns of morality at me for seemingly ‘exposing’ the climax of an otherwise totally predictable thriller in a very lecherous manner, let me say in my defense that climax is a real treat for Pooja Gandhi fans; and the director meant to show it in that way only. So, have fun.

Now, the less interesting aspect of the film; the story and the treatment.

Pooja Gandhi plays the role of a TV9 journalist who has a knack of uncovering controversial stories. Her handbag has a camera that not only acts as a video recorder, but it also acts as a live transmitter transmitting digital quality pictures back to her TV station! There is a bald serial killer cut loose in the city who kills people and chops off their body organs. As a note of thanks, he leaves a red rose near the body of the victim before making his escape. The story is all about how Pooja catches the guy (in the thrilling climax!) and ‘exposes’ her talents in the film.

Oh yes, this could have been a thrilling story even without the scintillating climax. But the narration of the story is so over the top, it misses a chance to be a decent thriller and falls prey to the mediocrity that is lurking like a serial killer in Gandhinagar and targeting writers and directors.

Consider for example, the portrayal of Special Task Force. The chief of the task force (Sundarraj) acts like a buffoon and yells at camera at every given opportunity. The task officers are shown as irresponsible, stupid and careless people. As far as the thrills and frills are concerned, the only real hair-raising scene in the film is the first scene(and of course, the climax too), where the director dutifully raises your expectation and then chops them off in the subsequent scenes.

The story has many loopholes and the direction is average. Frankly, handling thrillers and murder mysteries still remain a mystery for Kannada filmmakers. We have seen enough of lonely women wandering around the house in the midnight without bothering to even switch on the lights. Please, give us something new! Also, being a thriller does not give filmmakers the license to ditch reality.

Pooja Gandhi, even if you try to keep the climax away, sizzles like never before. This is one of the few roles where she has to do more than look pretty and sing songs. She does total justice to the role and tries her best to make this ordinary fare look lot better than it actually is. Villain cum producer of the film, Balu is ok. The camera and music are just what the doctor ordered for the film.

On a whole, Anu takes up a rare subject (by Kannada standards) and gives it an ordinary treatment (that too, by Kannada standards).