Yodha

Starring: Darshan, Nikitha Thukral, Ashish Vidyarthi, Avinash, Srinivasa Murthy, Rahul Dev
Director: N. Om Prakash Rao
Producer: Rockline Venkatesh
Music Dir: Hamsalekha
Lyricist: Hamsalekha
Singers: Jassie Gift, Chitra,Rajesh Krishnan, Nanditha, Suresh Peters, Anuradha Sriram, Vijay Yesudas
Distributor: Sri Ganesh
Genre: Action, Drama, Romance

Synopsis

Patil (Ashish Vidyarthi), is planning to become the next Chief Minister of Karnataka, and using devious ways to secure his election, has been kidnapped by terrorists, led by Kasim (Rahul Dev). He is being held as a hostage, in return for the release of Afzal Guru, a terrorist leader, who is being held, together with his associates, in Tihar Jail, in Hari Nagar, to the west of New Delhi. Patil is rescued in a daring operation led by Captain Ram (Darshan) ? and Ram is then assigned to guard him from further kidnap attempts. Patil attends a Cultural Programme in Delhi, culminating in an Indian patriotic song. That night, when Ram is on guard duty outside the mansion where Patil is staying, he hears screams for help coming from inside. upstairs in Patil?s house. Despite Patil?s aids trying strenuously to prevent him from going upstairs, he goes to the room from where the screams are coming, and finds that Patil is molesting and trying to rape a girl, who was the lead singer and dancer in the Civic Function they had just attended. He tries to get rescue the girl, but Patil fights violently, and produces a gun, and tries to shoot Ram. Ram has to shoot Patil in self-defence. He then gets the girl to cover her head and face, and to flee the scene. He tells his superior officer (Avinash) why he shot Patil, but he is court-martialled and discharged from the army. Patil recovers in hospital, and his aides tell him that they stopped the news of the court-martial leaking out to the media, so that no-one would know about Patil molesting the girl. Ram goes back home to Bangalore, to a royal welcome from his family, who congratulate him for his daring rescue of Patil.
Meanwhile, the girl he rescued, Asha (Nikitha), who is a student, also lives in Bangalore. She has sent 150 letters to the Army, thanking him, to be delivered to Ram, but has had no response. Then she sees Ram on his motorbike, and eventually jumps on the pillion seat when he is stopped at traffic-lights. He is angry, and does not want her attention, but she tells him that he has saved her honour, and that it is the duty of a girl to marry the one who saves her honour, he is the one she wants to marry. When he gets home, there is a parcel from the army ? it is all the letters and cards from Asha. He tells the family that he is no longer in the army, and why. He then goes to see Asha and tells her that he loves her, and that he will marry her.
The rest of the film is about his romance with Asha; his struggle to stay alive despite all the attempts of Patil to have him killed; and his continuing struggle against evil.

Songs:
1. Namm India
2. Lip To Lip
3. Suriya Nodayya
4. Maangalya

Released Year: 2009
Running Time: 153 minutes/Colour/Kannada


Review

Those who like to watch Darshan as an action hero will love this film. Likewise, those who like to watch him as a romantic hero will also love this film ? for he is both. The heroine is Nikitha Thukral, born into a Punjabi family, and raised in Mumbai ? who has appeared in many films in Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada. She has just the right feisty nature to match the role of Ram that Darshan plays. Those who like films where there is a battle of good against evil, will also love this film. Those who like lovely songs and lyrics written by Hamsalekha will also love this film.

5 stars.

Rating: [5 of 5 Stars!]