Thaindian News

Film: “Aata”; Cast: Sumanth Shailendra, Vibha Natarajan, Avinash, Achyuth Rao, Sadhu Kokila, Pavitra Lokesh; Producer: S. Shailendra Babu; Director: Vijayakumar; Music: Sadhu Kokila; Cinematography: Raaghav; Rating: **

Veteran film producer Shailendra Babu has put in all efforts and loads of money to provide a dream debut platform to his son Sumanth Shailendra in ‘Aata’. Sumanth, who has been well trained in various disciplines of filmmaking, performs well and impresses with action sequences and effortless dancing skills.

But the film suffers because of poor screenplay and untidy narration. Even the plot is fairly predictable and there are no surprise elements to keep the audience glued to the screen.

Vijayakumar, who has directed many successful films, disappoints with the wrong placement of song and fight sequences. They dilute the essence of the plot. He has also added many unnecessary sequences which make the movie long.

“Aata” can be considered as the first Kannada film made with football as the backdrop but unfortunately the director has not been able to capture the game sequences the way they should have been. Another major weakness of the film is bad characterisation.

It’s perfect example is the character of the villain who is described as a don in the film, but his activities hardly match up to that level. The role of the parents of the hero and heroine also suffer from weak characterisation.

The story is about Rahul (Sumanth) who belongs to a close-knit middle-class family and is also a talented football player.

Due to some mix-up in a video shop he comes across a video of Swathi (Vibha), who is the daughter of a rich tycoon. After some initial misunderstandings, they bond well and decide to marry.

But Rahul wants the approval of their parents before they take the plunge.

Meanwhile, Rahul’s sister elopes with her boyfriend just on the day of her marriage and this completely shatters his family members.

How Rahul overcomes this shock and gets his love with the approval of elders from the families forms the remaining part of the story.

Raaghav has done a commendable job behind the camera. Kokila’s music is the major attraction of the film. All the veteran artists, including Avinash, Neenasam Achyutha, and Padmaja Rao, have done well in their roles.

But the film mainly suffers because of bad narration.