A pleasant film and a sentimental love story, Vasantham
tries to establish that there can be genuine friendship
between a man and a woman even after their marriages.
Vikraman who directed the bi-lingual film in both
Tamil and Telugu, proves his mettle in handling the
subject carefully upholding the spirit of friendship
without indulging in violence and playing up right
emotions at the right time.
The
storyline has interesting twists too, not much away
from reality. Ashok (Venkatesh) and Julie (Kalyani)
are childhood friends. As grown ups, their attitude
towards life does not change. Julie practically serves
as Ashok's mentor and absorber of the shocks he receives
on his home front. Ashok's elder brother (Surya) and
sister-in-law regard him as a worthless fellow, while
his father (Tanikella) has no say at home. The hero's
younger brother - shown only in the clippings as a
studious man - about to go abroad, is married off
before Ashok, giving the latter a rude shock. Julie
pacifies him saying she is confident that this `good-for-nothing-fellow'
would one day become a cricket star, representing
his nation. The director gives us a taste of cricket
too with V.V.S. Laxman coaching Ashok and the latter
hitting a century in a match.
And,
in a train journey, along with his friends (Sunil
and Sivareddy), Ashok notices Nandini (Aarti), who
steals his heart. He leaves a cassette with a song
praising her beauty under her pillow, while leaving.
This makes Nandini curious about the man. Thanks to
the same tune, they fall in love. Their elders fix
their marriage, not knowing they are already lovers.
Now
the intimacy between Ashok and Julie with equally
strong bonds becomes an issue. It is here that the
director lifts the drama from mundane levels and makes
Nandini soon realise that it is just inseparable friendship
and nothing more. She agrees to marry on a condition
that they should find a suitable boy for Julie too.
Julie works in a school owned by a Christian business
magnate (Ahuti Prasad) whose son, Michael (Akash),
is attracted to Julie. Michael is a cricketer too.
On learning that Ashok, and not his son, is selected
to the test team, his father forces Ashok to reject
his selection by writing to the cricket board. Ashok
also agrees to keep Julie away from his life, until
her marriage takes place. From this point, the role
of Nandini takes over in handling Ashok's emotions.
How this issue is finally resolved, retaining the
good nature of all characters forms the rest.
Venkatesh
as Ashok looks quite handsome with minimal makeup.
Kalyani playing Julie shares with him the main element
of drama, while Aarti Agarwal plays Nandini. The essential
vein of the drama reflects goodness in all characters,
though they tread the wrong path initially. This maybe
the winning track the director chose to win over the
box-office.
For
Venkatesh, this film is a big morale booster, in the
face the earlier two flops. He looks made for the
role of Ashok. The underlying principle that friendship
between boy and girl should never be misunderstood
is well guarded and convincingly argued through interesting
dialogues, also penned by Vikraman along with the
screenplay. However, there are a couple of scenes
where artificiality creeps in.
The
subject gives equal importance to both the leading
ladies. Kalyani suits the unglamorous yet intellectual
Julie, while Aarti performs her role understanding
its limitations. Akash leaves his mark on the film
in his brief role. Chandramohan, Surya and Delhi Rajeswari
perform their character roles interestingly. Music
is quite balanced, though the introduction of signature
tune is quite an old-fashioned technique.
courtesy:
The Hindu
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