Not an avid kannada movie buff but stumbled on this movie thanks to Amazon Prime. Before watching I read up on the film and got to know it is a remake of another Tamil film titled 96. Since I had not seen the tamil film there was not reference point or benchmark. The premise of the film is very basic yet relatable and definitely had a lot of potential. A middle aged travel photographer meets his childhood girlfriend at a school reunion 20 years after they last saw each other. The girl has moved on and is married with a kid while the guy is still mourning over lost love.
Stories about school life, friends, first crush will always have takers, we all love to go down that lane but strong characters make this journey memorable. This is precisely where 99 fails. Both the lead characters are very sketchy and does not connect as it should. What adds to the woes are some seriously mediocre performances and direction. Ganesh as Ram is a total misfit and unconvincing. Bhavana suffers mainly from a poorly written role and is not relateable. The actors playing younger version of the lead pair just about pass the muster while the supporting cast do their job well.
Music by Arjun Janya is average, the slow pace makes you feel that some of the songs are best skipped. Cinematography is nothing to write home about, direction could have been better so too the writing.
Overall not a great watch, 99 does fall short of expectations!
