Yuvakudu Review

The magician of Tholi Prema is back. And with a sort of a bang again. Though the echo will not be heard as far as the first, it is nevertheless a bang. This time Karunakaran has conjured a part-fun, part-sentimental fare with the up-and-coming Sumant.

As we watch the movie, we cannot make comparisons. Because this film moves in dramatically different circumstances compared to the maiden venture. We tend to ask, was he trying to do a role reversal in Yuvakudu? Anyway, I'll keep the bare facts in front of you. Check them out for yourself.

While in Tholi Prema it is the silent adoration of the love couple all along, Yuvakudu is much more garrulous. Again, in the former the hero is an intermediate-flunked vagabond, while here the hero has a clear-cut goal of becoming an army officer. But one common thread that runs through both the films is the heroine's concern for society. And it is this that brings the heroine and the hero together in both films.

The film deals with a family of two - Jayasudha and her son Sumanth. The latter falls in love at first sight, in a typical filmi style - that is, at the sight of the eyes, ears and snatches of the body, and not the complete face. He tells his mother about his duchess of love, Bhoomika. The mother goes on a hunt for the girl and makes friends with a millionaire's lonesome daughter.

Bhoomika is floored by the kind-heartedness of her aunt, as that is what she calls Jayasudha. And despite the fact that she doesn't love the boy, she decides to marry him for her aunt. But simultaneously Sumanth is put off by her saying that love does not spring in just a couple of meetings. However, they marry for the sake of Jayasudha and the whole game of tit-for-tat starts.

Into this innovative storyline are juxtaposed the Coimbatore bomb blasts and macho military acrobats. And these too happen all of a sudden, out of the thin air. Be what it may, Karunakaran tries to keep up the interest of the film despite the loose ends.

Jayasudha and Bhoomika carry themselves well. Especially the latter. Unlike many of the newcomers, she displays a phenomenal presence. Jayasudha as the 'I-will-do-anything-for-my-son' mother enacts her part well. And Sumanth improves from his wooden performance in Prema Katha and manages to steal your hearts in some of the pranks that he plays on Bhoomika.

Apart from the military sequence in the end and a couple of sequences in college hostels and canteens, the whole film centers around these three characters. And Karunakaran needs to be congratulated for his deft handling of the film.