Dharala Prabhu Review
Star Cast : Harish Kalyan,Vivekh, Tanya Hope
Director : Krishna Marimuthu
Director Krishna Marimuthu's Dharala Prabhu is a sensible adaptation of Hindi hit Vicky Donor. Krishna has made minor changes in the script to suit the sensibilities of Tamil audiences and also modified the lead characters and situations to make it convincing and relevant.
Prabhu Govind (Harish Kalyan) is a passionate football player and his only aim is to get a job in the sports quota. Prabhu lives a tension-free life with his mom and grandma who run a traditional beauty parlor in Chennai. Life goes on well for Prabhu until he meets a doctor Kannadasan (Vivekh) who runs a fertility clinic and sperm bank and he is in search of a healthy sperm donor for his rich clients.
Kannadasan is impressed with the healthy lifestyle of Prabhu who doesn't drink, follows a strict vegetarian diet and also hails from a royal family. Though Prabhu is hesitant at first, he agrees to be a donor after understanding the emotional stress of couples who desperately need a kid.
Meanwhile, Prabhu meets a divorcee, a Kannadiga girl Nidhi Mandanna (Tanya Hope) and falls in love. He decides to settle down and put a full stop to his donor business. So what happens when Nidhi finds out about his secret business with Dr Kannadasan?
Dharala Prabhu's biggest strength is comedy chemistry between Harish Kalyan and Vivekh. Harish has delivered a measured performance and showcases drastic improvement in the emotional scenes. He has the much needed screen presence and a lovable face. Vivekh steals the show with his comic histrionics and one liners. He is the biggest strength of the film. Tanya Hope too looks promising in emotional scenes and has delivered an adequate performance.
The writing is organic with strong lines highlighting the nuances of relationships. The film takes a light-hearted, optimistic look at infertility and artificial insemination that entertains and enlightens the audiences.The subtle message is conveyed without the aid of an insistent monologue, cheap humour or calculated soppiness. Even the romantic scenes look convincing and not filmy. Anupama Kumar as Prabhu's mother has given an excellent performance.
On the downside, too many subplots in the second half slightly diverts the film from its core theme. The film could have been trimmed a bit to make it crisp.
Technically, Selvakumar's camera provided the rich look for the film and the team's idea of roping in eight music composers works well. Overall, Dharala Prabhu is a well-made remake and the team has delivered what they promised!
