A silver jubilee film is an important milestone in every actor’s career, and in director Shankar J’s D/o Parvathamma, Hariprriya adds a sense of freshness to this crime thriller that marks her 25th film in Kannada cinema. The actor plays Vaidehi, an investigative officer, who is assigned the suicide case of Dr Ahalaya’s, which is suspected to be a murder. The investigation is interspersed with scenes from Vaidehi’s past.
A college girl ties a rakhi to Vaidehi saying, “You are like our anna. If you are around, I don’t have to worry about the boys.” Hariprriya’s Vaidehi plays a tomboyish character who tells Anantu aka Shastry (Suraj Gowda) not to call her his sister anymore. She boldly takes her boyfriend around town, and bashes up anyone who has troubled him. However, their story meets a tragic end.
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The film then proceeds with the investigation, and is centred on how Vaidehi succeeds in solving the case, despite facing a number of hurdles. The narration also poses a number of questions. A hard nut to crack, does Vaidehi have a heart? Will she take her mother’s suggestion of getting married? In addition, the film also explains the life of an investigative officer. In an interesting development, Vaidehi is caught in a catch-22 situation when she is assigned another case just as her mother Parvathamma (Sumalatha) plans her wedding. It is this choice that turns the course of events in the film.
The characters in this women-oriented script justify the story, which does not leave room for loopholes and is grounded to reality. However, the director, in moving between the past and present, makes the investigative episode less gripping. Between all this, there’s also an underlying message.
Shankar is backed by some good talent, which makes this film work. Hariprriya’s performance is noteworthy and she ably carries off the different shades of her role. She expresses herself with style in the role of Vaidehi, and a special shout-out to costume designer Pragathi Shetty, whose work adds major value to her role. Sumalatha’s character highlights the struggle of any regular mother who is worried about getting her daughter married at the ‘right age’.
Ananya Kashyap, who plays Dr Ahalaya, is the soul of the story, and two important characters - Suraj Gowda and Prabhu Mundkur - are introduced into the plot at the right time. Taranga Vishwa adds some fun moments to the otherwise serious subject.
Usually, crime thrillers do well without songs, however, the track composed by Midhun Mukundan blends into the story effectively. Cinematographer Arul Somasundaram, who makes sure that he gets the best in his frame, does an efficient job in D/o Parvathamma, which has a runtime of under two hours.
Here is a heroine who is attempting to move away from her usual image. How the audience embrace this film is something to look out for.
Director: Shankar J Rating: 2/5 |