Film Review: ''Star''

IN ORDER to become a box office hit, a film should have a gripping story tune with a neat screenplay. Then of a saleable hero, heroine, a popular director along with a good music director to back the project. Sri Subha Jothi Movies ``Star'' has all these but the director has allowed the first half to meander taking charge only in the second.

Ramanathan (Vijayakumar) is in search of a brigand, who kidnaps a young swimmer, the son of Dhanushkodi (Raguvaran). The boy dies and the brigand escapes. Dhanushkodi is now determined to make Ramanathan pay for this lapse and says he would kill his son. Ramanathan makes everyone believe that his son was lost at a young age, but actually takes him to Mauritius and leaves him there with his friend.

There Santhosh (Pravinkaanth) is brought up by `Nizhalgal' Ravi who lets him learn all the bad habits.

Murthy (Prasanth) is a clever man who impersonates bad guys and takes the rap for their crimes. He meets Preethi (Jothika) who hits a police officer and Murthy is ready to go to jail for her sake. In another incident she is saved by Murthy when a group of auto drivers harass her. Murthy and Preethi fall in love.

Ramanathan comes to know about Murthy's way of living and chalks out a master plan. Murthy agress to act as his son mainly because Preethi is Ramanathan's niece. Ramanathan says that his son is back. Dhanushkodi challenges that the son will be soon dead.

Murthy, however, escapes all the attempts of Dhanushkodi. Meanwhile Santhosh escapes from Mauritius and lands in India with a vengeance to kill his father who has not allowed him to live in his house. How Murthy tackles the situation is told in a gripping way in the climax.

Acting honours are shared by three - Prasanth as Murthy, Srividya as the wife of Collector Ramanathan and Vijayakumar who is always worried about his son's safety. Raguvaran, searching for the son of Vijayakumar, plays his role extremely well. Only his make-up is needlessly gruesome.

Ramesh Khanna as the friend of Prasanth certainly helps not only the hero but also the film with his humorous dialogue. Chinni Jayanth is the other comedian who lives up to his reputation. Manivannan, Pandu, Anumohan, Balu Anand,Hema Chowdry and Mumtaz are the others in the cast.

Priyan's cinematography captures the beautiful sets and also the outdoor location exquisitely. Three among the five songs tuned by A. R. Rahman are melodious. Story, screenplay, dialogue and direction are by Pravinkaanth.

S. R. ASHOK KUMAR

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