Monday Sep 08 2008, Bangalore

Ganesha Matte Banda

Directed by - Phani Ramachandra

Produced by - S.A.Chinne Gowda

Music by - V.Manohar

Casts - Vijay Raghavendra, Ananth Nag, Pragnya, Vinaya Prasad, Vishal Hegde, Neethu etc. Lyrics- Phani Ramachandra, Kaviraj, V.Manohar, Hrudaya Shiva and Jayanth Kaikini.

Banner - Sowbhagyalakshmi Productions

Director Phani Ramachandra is known for his healthy comedies like 'Ganeshana Maduve', 'Gowri Ganesha', 'Ganesha Subramanya', 'Ganeshana Galate' and 'Ganesha I Love You'.This time, after a long hiatus, Phani is back with a film in the ‘Ganesha’ series.But the only problem is, it is a healthy film minus comedy.Yes, that's how one can define 'Ganesha Matte Banda'.The film was touted to be the return of ‘Ganesha’ series and moreover was billed as a light entertainer.

But Phani seems to have given more emphasis on the love marriage vs.arranged marriage angle and has overlooked the comedy part.Phani as usual sets the story in a middle-class ‘vataara’ (chawl) of Padmanabhacharya (Ananth Nag) an orthodox bramhin.He has three daughters.Of the three daughters, the first one Gayathri (Neetu) supports love marriage while the second girl Savithri (Pragnya) is for arranged marriage.

The third girl decides to stay away from marriage for some time and closely watch which one is better and successful.Soon Gayathri finds the man of her dreams in a bike racer.And Padmanabhacharya arranges Savithri's marriage with Ganesha (Vijay Raghavendra) a resident of the chawl.And then, gradually both the marriages move inch-by-inch towards all kinds of problems.How these problems get  resolved forms the story.

Unlike his other previous films, 'Ganesha Matte Banda' doesn't revolve only around Ganesha or his family, but focuses mainly on the issues concerning love marriage or arranged marriage.In order to show justice to both the kinds of marriages, Phani has unnecessarily wasted so much time and has brought in sequences which gives you the feel of watching a tele-serial.Though there are a few scenes which definitely make you laugh, the rest of the film happens to be a bit boring.Neither the songs nor their picturisation happens to be up to the mark.Cinematography can be said to be just average.

Acting-wise, it is the veterans who rule the show.Ananth Nag, Vinaya Prasad and Doddanna excel in their roles.Vijay Raghavendra is cool and gets into the skin of his character.Pragnya, Neethu, Vishal Hegde have all done their bit.Watch 'Ganesha Matte Banda' if you are a fan of  the 'Ganesha' series.