Doddmane Huduga (Kannada)
Director: Suri
Cast: Puneeth Rajkumar, Ambareesh, Radhika Pandit, Ravishankar, Bharathi Vishnuvardhan, Sumalatha Ambareesh, Rangayana Raghu, Avinash, Krishna
As the tagline of the film — ‘Abhimanigale nam mane devru’ (fans are our gods) — indicates, Doddmane Huduga makes no qualms about admitting that this is a film dedicated in its entirety to ‘Power Star’ Puneeth Rajkumar and ‘Rebel Star’ Ambareesh’s fans. It is Puneeth’s 25th film and director Suri, who has also written the screenplay and the dialogues, ensures that both Puneeth and Ambareesh get ample screen time, all the ‘whistle-worthy’ dialogues and as many action sequences as possible.
Even the fans get screen time. As the film opens, after an elaborate fight sequence that introduces Puneeth, the narrative pauses to accommodate a song in which Puneeth, the actor, is dancing with and for his fans. This song too has the same refrain as the tagline, driving home the point. It is difficult to look at the film as anything but a star vehicle, therefore.
Now amid this fanfare, there exists a storyline but one that is clichéd and outdated. Doddmane Rajeeva (Ambareesh) is a farmer, a highly revered Samaritan and a social worker in Mandya. He meets Cable Babu (Ravishankar), a goon, and thwarts his attempts to secure land in the area. Babu now wants revenge.
Miles away in Hubballi, Surya (Puneeth), who is a biriyani vendor, incidentally gets into a scuffle with Cable Babu’s younger brother. So, it is this triangle of Surya, Rajeeva and Babu that Suri is interested in. What does Surya have to do with Doddmane Rajeeva and Cable Babu? How do these three characters meet? The answers to these questions forms the rest of the film.
Now, the problem is that these answers are not remotely engaging or new. Instead, they lead us to a predictable climax filled with feudal feud, estranged relationships and family legacy in addition to mindless fight sequences. In fact, with an elaborate set up in the first half, the second half’s utterly clichéd conclusion is a huge let down.
Suri throws in a few more characters but they are all left behind by the time the film reaches its climax. There is a love story between Nisha (Radhika Pandit) and Surya, which is again generic and full of stereotypes.
The goal of the film seems to be to bring about a meeting between Puneeth and Ambareesh — again purely for their fans.
And the character of Cable Babu is used as a catalyst for this meeting. Suri does not give Babu any background or depth, making him a caricature villain. His prolonged need for revenge and Ravishankar’s melodramatic performance seems rather arbitrary.
Ambareesh and Puneeth share an interesting chemistry, with both actors trying their best to deliver a good performance.
Doddmane Huduga makes one wonder if star vehicles are doomed to sacrifice the need for a concrete story.
ARCHANA NATHAN
