Monday Nov 10 2008, Bangalore

'Payana' is a tiresome journey

Directed by - Kiran Govi

Produced by - Venkatesh Dodmane

Music by - Harikrishna

Casts - Ravi Shankar, Ramanitu Chowdhary, Sharath Babu, Rangayana Raghu

Starring - ,

A Taxi driver falls in love with an NRI girl ...Images of 'Raja Hindustani' might flash over your mind for a couple of minutes when you hear this one line summary. No, 'Payana' is not a 'Raja Hindustani'. It could have definitely surpassed 'Raja Hindustani' in terms of box office success. But due to some boring, lagging and repeated sequences, 'Payana - A Romantic Journey' becomes a tiresome journey.

'Payana' starts on a promising note and ends in an impressive climax. Ravi is a cab driver working for a travel agency. He lives in a world of dreams, where he sees a rich and a beautiful young girl wanting to marry him. Meanwhile, Kaveri an NRI girl engages Ravi as a driver to take her around the tourist spots in the state. Ravi thinks that Kaveri is the dream girl sent by God himself. But Kaveri has no such feelings for him. What happens next is revealed in the climax.

As told earlier, 'Payana' has a good opening and a good climax. In between there are some interesting sequences. But director Kiran Govi fails miserably in retaining the same throughout the film. Kiran could have reduced the length of the film to some extent so that the audience doesn't get bored seeing and hearing the same scenes and dialogues. With a little bit of editing, the film could have been more interesting. Particularly the comedy sequences involving Mandya Ramesh and Bullet Prakash which irritate to the core could have been easily edited.

Technically the film is worth a mention. A couple of Harikrishna's songs like 'Modada Olage' and 'Manasa Gange' have already topped the charts. Jnanamurthy does a good job behind the cameras.

'Silly Lalli' Ravishankar impresses with his dialogue delivery and lively performance. Ramaneethu Chowdhary's cute looks will appeal to the youngsters. Sharath Babu is his usual self.