Released on Kannada Rajyotsava, Raja Huli has entered the big screens and started to make noise into the second week. Stated as a remake of the Tamil movie Sundarapandian, Raja Huli is an adaptation to the Mandya region of Karnataka.
Raja Huli begins with an introduction to the Mandya culture shedding light on its agricultural aspects to its film fanatic crowd worshiping their favorite heroes on screen. Also describing their generosity in sharing water, it slightly touches upon the contemporary Kaveri issue. The intro ends with a note on honor killing, which bogged the town a few days ago.
Raja Huli (Yash) is the son of a rich landlord played by Charan Raj, and has a local fan base and a reputation to beat up petty troublemakers. He has a dedicated friend circle around him, and still playfully flirts with his cousin, who is married with a kid. The first half surfs away in the Panchalingeshwara bus in which mostly college students travel, with Raja Huli trying to hitch his friend who has a crush on Kaveri (Meghana Raj). The story carries on with humorous sequences and four songs, with Chikkanna bagging full marks for his comic timing.
Things take a dramatic twist with a freak accident resulting in the death of Cheluva, who also has a crush on Kaveri, for which Raja Huli gets arrested. While in Kaveri's family, pressure mounts for her marriage with her brother-in-law's younger brother, Jagga.
The romantic part apart, equally mentionable is the friendship side of Raja Huli. Raja Huli is a man of word when it comes to helping friends. All of it plays a prominent role in the way the film progresses, and greets you with more twists.
Story by Prabhakaran is good, with the first half feeling a little dragged. The second half is where it gets much interesting. Mass audience will love the soundtrack by Hamsalekha. Dialogues are timed well with a Mandya twang. Yash has definitely excelled with his acting as Raja Huli and Meghana Raj looks nice as a bubbly village girl, Kaveri. Charan Raj comes back with a gentlemanly supporting role and the rest of the actors come out naturally. Cinematography by Vishnuvardhan captures beautiful scenery around and the director Guru Deshapande manages to present an entertainment filled festival present.
However, it seems the director misses to explain the link between the honor killing scene to the rest of the story, and, the scene where Kaveri asks her friend about Raja Huli, although it is later shown that they both knew each other before. Apart from the above missing links, the film passes as an enjoyable family entertainer.
