Moggina Manasu - An Offbeat Movie

Moggina Manasu, is the story of 4 teenage girls and their confusions in their tender age. These 4 girls provide 4 different perceptions of love. Chanchala(Radhika Pandit), true to her name is always in confusion about love. Renu(Shubha Poonja), who comes from a village background is very innocent about love. Other two girls are two different poles with one using her boy friend as an ATM Card and the other like an LIC policy! Film begins with Chanchala going down the memory lane about her college days - first day in college, ragging and friends. Though juniors Chanchala and Renu are subjected to ragging initially by two of their seniors, 4 girls become best of friends. As the company, so are the habits. So, Chanchala and Renu are in search for boyfriends like their senior counterparts. The girls are not able to differentiate between infatuation and love - like Chanchala is about give love letter to her English lecturer! Innocent Renu falls in for Aakash but Chanchala takes her time to choose her love. Story takes different twists in each of the four girls' lives. In the end, film's message becomes clear - dont falter in the emotional upheavals of teenage. Wait for your true love to discover yourself. Though film contains some predictable sequences that does not seem boring. Also, comedy runs as a set of seperate sequences, away from the main story line with comedian Sharan providing the comic relief.Shubha Poonja's innocent character wins the hearts of the audience and so is the confused character Chanchala played by Radhika Pandit. Disha, who is a rebellious daughter also steals the show. Male leads, all freshers, do not have much scope to showcase their talent. Out of the bunch, Radhika's love interest, Yash gives a good performance.

Camera work is good but when it comes to special graphic effects, score is below average. Some of the graphic effects are not given their due and could have been best avoided. Background score by Manomurthy has mesmerising effects. Music of the movie is good. But movie contains an overdose of melodious songs, of which two could have been avoided. Nooraaru Preethi Maathu Nooraru Saari Aadi sung by Sonu Nigam, Moggina Manasali and Male Baruva Haagide both sung by Shreya Ghosal stays in memory. Interestingly Kumar Sanu has sung one song - Om Namaha Om for the movie. Teenage Teenage is a typical youth song, lyrics penned by director Shashank.

Major portion of the film was shot in coastal Karnataka including Mangalore, Kasaragod and Karwar. Welcome break from the usual shooting locations for Kannada films. Panambur beach in Mangalore, Bekal Fort beach and Ananthapura temple in Kasaragod are beautifully shot. MG Road, Bharath Mall in Mangalore also form the locations for several scenes.

Most of our films are love stories. Everything falls in place for love is the gist in every such movie. But that rarely happens. Very few filmmakers have dared to explore the topic of adolescent age and its sensitivities. Kudos to E Krishnappa for choosing such a subject in Moggina Manasu, with fresh faces, after the blockbuster, Mungaaru Male, a tragic love story. Director Shashank also deserves credit for handling such a sensitive subject well.

Regards
Raveesh