Baanadariyalli review: It hardly scores apart from the title taken from Puneeth Rajkumar’s song

Director BS Ranga’s popular Kannada film Bhagyavantha (1981) starring Master Lohith — played by none other than the late Dr Puneeth Rajkumar — has a melodious song that goes like “Baanadariyalli soorya…“. It was sung by none other than the master himself as a child artist.

The song is penned by Chi Udaya Shankar to the music scored by TG Lingappa. It featured Puneeth Rajkumar and veteran senior actor late KS Aswath.

Amused why this detailed explanation of a popular Kannada song? Well, the song is now the title of Golden Star Ganesh’s latest outing — Baanadariyalli.

The movie is directed by Preetham Gubbi who helmed several films starring Ganesh in the lead.

Here is a sneak peek into whether the golden combination of Preetham and Ganesh works or not in their latest venture:

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Synopsis

Long story short, Siddu (Ganesh) is a professional cricket player who aspires to play for the State team.

Leela (Rukmini Vasanath) is a professional swimmer and environmental activist.

Siddu falls in love at first sight with Leela. But there is a catch to it as Leela is the only daughter of Vasu (Rangayana Raghu). The two (father-daughter) have one big dream to realise — an African Safari.

All goes well until an accidental twist in the midway (intermission) shatters it all.

So, their Safari dreams and the bond between Vasu and Siddu define the rest of the film. It also comes attached with another beautiful globe trotter.

Poorly written

The whole intention of Baanadariyalli is an attempt to rekindle and encash Ganesh’s finest avatar in a light-hearted performance laced with his signature emotional act.

Likewise, the first half is more or less packed with Golden Star’s humour. But it unfortunately fails to make any impact, thanks to poor writing and the usual done-to-dust plot of impressing a girl followed by an attempt to win over the heart of his would-be father-in-law.

The disappointment further continues post-interval, which is a notch higher than compared to the first half.

The movie is shallow in almost every aspect of entertainment, just like Leela is seen surfing on shallow waters in the film.

Imagine a bunch of African tribes chasing three people who are a few steps away from them. What could be the consequence of it? Certainly not what many would think, but the three simply outrun the athletic Africans in the film! This sums up it all!

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Performances

With only a handful of characters in prime focus, playing father is a cakewalk for Rangayna Raghu, and so is Ganesh as a lover.

The present heartthrob of Kannada cinema, Rukmini Vasanth continues to charm the audience with her infectious smile.

Reeshma, who plays a traveller, is just a filler in the void content.

Music, which always remained a highlight in Golden Star’s films, leaves a note of dismay in the film.

However, Arjun Janya compensates for it to some extent with the number “Gold Fish“.

Final take

Instead, watch the popular song Baanadariyalli by Puneeth Rajkumar to your heart’s content. Or watch a decent documentary on wildlife Safari, or even plan a long vacation.

(Views expressed here are personal.)