'Parichaya' fails to live up to hype

By R.G. Vijayasarathy, Film: 'Parichaya'; Director: Sanjay; Cast: Tarun, Rekha, Shobharaj, Avinash, Chidanand, Master Anand and Monisha; Music: Jessie Gift; Rating: **

"Parichaya" has been a much-awaited film, thanks to its songs that have already become chartbusters on music channels and its interesting promos.

As director Sanjay had promised, the film is youth-centric and the musical score by Jessie Gift is the movie's main attraction. The fantastic choreography and the cinematography by P.K.H. Doss complement the film's mood.

But music and photography apart, "Parichaya" suffers on account of a half-baked script that is inspired by Hollywood hit "Serendipity". The film has already inspired many Indian filmmakers and "Parichaya" has borrowed heavily from its successful Tamil version "JJ", which had Madhavan in the lead.

Sanjay, who had earlier directed the Ganesh-Rekha starrer "Hudugaata", hasn't written an interesting script for "Parichaya".

The result is that the film comes as a mixed bag of a few good songs and some boring sequences.

The story revolves around Jayanth and Nimmy, who are introduced to each other on Valentine's Day. After that, they miss meeting each other many times, though they are just a little distance away.

The result is that many sequences of the film look repetitive and almost irritating.

Actor Tarun is good in the song and dance sequences but does seem expressionless in some key emotional scenes. And the dubbing work done by actor Dileep Raj doesn't really suit him.

Rekha looks attractive, but she is still to attain maturity in her performance. Avinash and Shobharaj provide some relief with their dialogues.

The three top songs of the film - "Nadedaaduva Kaamanabille", "Jigi Jigi Jigidhu" and "Kudinotave" - are well-picturised.

"Parichaya" impresses with its musical content and strong visuals. But it disappoints because of it lacks an interesting storyline and good narrative.