Mangana Kaili Manikya Movie Review

Rajendra Karanth has proved his talent in his very first movie with good script and narration. He has handled the comedy sequences very
well without giving any room of slackness. Though some dialogues seem to have a double meaning, there is no vulgarity in them. Perhaps,
Karanth could have done a better job of the climax which looks chaotic with too many characters.

The story highlights of how a blind director makes a Kannada movie without revealing his handicap. Manu ( Ramesh Aravind), a film director, is selected by producer Prabhu (Rangayana Raghu) to direct a movie called Kathriguppe. But he becomes blind as he could not face the tension of making the movie. Fearing that he would lose the job, he never reveals his blindness to anyone. He has his assistant Ranganni Ravishankar Gowda). There are excellent comedy sequences like Manu addressing the heroine looking somewhere, approving the shots without looking at the monitor, selecting costumes for the lead roles, etc. But one fine day everyone comes to know that he is blind. Though upset with the turn of events, producer Prabhu tries to cash in on his blindness by making announcement that a blind director is directing his movie. The story takes a curious turn when suddenly Manu regains his eye sight. But that does not help him as he had to act as the blind director so that the publicity he got for the movie is not lost. How does he do it? It is full of comedy sequences.

Full marks to Ramesh for his excellent performance as a blind director. Ravishankar Gowda is equally good in giving life to his
comic character. Harshika Poonacha has given a matured performance, perhaps the best in recent times. Camera by JG Krishna and music by Ramesh Ramanathan pass the muster.