'Prema Chandrama' is ordinary fare (Kannada Movie Review)

Film: Prema Chandrama; Cast: Raghu Mukherjee, Rekha, Kiran Sreenivas, Srinath, Ganesh, Sumithra, Umashri and others; Producer: U.E. Ganesh, G. Kumar, G.S. Jagadish and Sunilkumar Shindhe: Sahuraj Shindhe, Camera: H.C. Venu, Music: V. Harikrishna;

Rating: *1/2

In 'Prema Chandrama', the story revolves around the concept that the hero of the film loses his memory and is feared to be dead but he comes back with a different identity.

Sahuraj Shinde has already directed two box office duds 'Bhoopathy' and 'Snehaanaa Preethinaa' earlier even with a bigger star like Darshan. 'Prema Chandrama' is another amateurish attempt of Shinde that has gone haywire because of a bad script.

The narration is so slow that often it tests the patience of the viewers. Shinde has remained steadfast in belief that a narration mode practiced in the early '70s is better suited for this film and the result is that the film looks too protracted and tedious.

The first half is really boring. The bad song placements in the film is another irritation.

To add to Shinde's woes, even Hari Krishna, who is at present the top music director of the industry, has delivered very average tunes for the film.

The film's camera work by Venu is good, but what can you do when you have a below average script and ordinary performances from even lead artists.

The story revolves around Sanjay who is married to Chethana. Sanjay goes out to work in the navy as he is largely influenced by his ex-serviceman father.

News comes that he has died. Dr.Vijay decides to marry Chethana even after knowing her tragic background, but he advises her not to reveal her past to his mother.

After a few days, Chethana is shocked to find Sanjay under treatment in the supervision of her husband. Sanjay has suffered loss of memory and does not remember his past. Vijay wants to cure him of this problem.

The story ends after Sanjay gets his memory back, but walks out of the hospital along with his father without revealing anything about restoration of memory.

The lead artists - Raghu Mukerjee, Rekha and Kiran - have performed their roles with ease, but certainly they don't acquit themselves well in emotional sequences.

The veteran artists, Srinath, Sumithra and Umasri, have too little space to perform, but still they do their job well.