"ULLASAMGA UTSAHAMGA" Movie Review

Yasho Sagar and Sneha Ullal debut in Ullasamga Uthsahanga, directed by Karunakaran. After his last hit Toli Prema, this is the director coming back to form.

Sneha Ullal and Yasho SagarPlot Dhanalaxmi and Balaji are childhood sweethearts, but they are separated. Dhana's parents are no more and her guardian is her step-mother who tries to force her into a marriage. She runs away to Hyderabad where she stays with her friend, and Arvind falls in love with her on first sight. After trying to woo her and failing to do so, she tells him her intentions-to find Balaji and marry him. Arvind's heart is broken, but will he help her or woo her away from his competitor-forms the rest of the plot.

Story, Screenplay and Direction The movie is entertaining throughout, and the moment it drags or diverts, it perks up two fold again. It's witty, with gags that stay with you even after the movie ends. Small incidents, brief cameos are written so well that they make a difference to the movie. Dharmavarapu and his quarrelsome spouse, the ‘Saroja' incident, LB Sriram who appears like a flat stock character but has an interesting albeit predictable twist in the end-these little things add to the effect.

The Toli Prema effect lingers, but why is that bad? A bunch of friends, the main lead being the black sheep of the family, his silly but funny entry, the damsel in distress and what more, the damsel not falling for our hero till the nth moment-does that remind you of the earlier blockbuster? Karunakaran might have diverted from his super hit in his later movies including Happy, but here he is adamant. He does what he is good at, which is a sweet, wholesome romance.

The track where Arvind thinks Dhana has amnesia so he tries to introduce himself to her and impress her every single day is cute. The way it slips into clichés to immediately get back to tongue-in-cheek humor is its USP.

Yasho Sagar and Sneha UllalPerformances The debutante lead pair is also good without giving a great debut. They show promise, but obviously need to work on their acting skills and as far as Yasho goes, he needs to be groomed too. Still it's a debut that is both confident and lucky, extremely lucky because the movie is good. He's sure to be noticed, and he needs to follow up on this to stay there. Yasho Sagar clearly has things going for him. Sneha's slight resemblance to Ashwarya Rai notwithstanding, she is a pretty girl with acting skills as good or otherwise of any other Mumbai imports. The rest of the cast, from Chandramohan as his father, the rest of his family, her step mother, her friend, cameos and guest appearances have all contributed to the movie.

Song and Dance The music is good but not great with a copied (from two different international tracks) soundtrack. Still it's hummable.

Last Word Bang on the spot after Toli Prema, this is Karunakaran's next best flick. It cannot be actually compared to his other movie, but after some unexciting ventures, this is where he scores with the audiences again. It's a love story, it's nicely written and his taking makes for an interesting watch.

End Credits :

Starring : Yasho Sagar, Sneha Ullal, Chandramohan, Sudha, Satya Krishnan, Brahmanandam, Venumadhav, Suman Shetty, Suneel and Others.
Action: Vijay.
Dialogues: Chintapalli Ramana.
Cinematography: I. Andrew.
Editing: Marthand K. Venkatesh.
Lyrics: Ananth Sriram.
Music: GV Prakash.
Story, Screenplay & Direction : A. Karunakaran
Producer(s): BP Somu-GS Ranganath.
Banner: Amruth Amarnath Arts.
Release Date: 25th July, 2008.