Lahari Films and Venus Entertainers’ UI (dubbed from the Kannada film of the same name; UA) is a film within a film. Filmmaker Upendra has made a film which has left the audience baffled. A noted reviewer goes in search of Upendra to understand the film better before he reviews it. He chances upon the original script which was meant to be burnt by Upendra but has been salvaged by the caretaker. That’s when we enter the world of UI and what the filmmaker has to say.
Upendra has written an intriguing story about ‘you’ and ‘I’ but it gets too philosophical after a point. The first half shows a world of Godmen, corrupt politicians, class disparity and a man named Sathya (Upendra) living amongst them. Sathya desires to create a Utopian world. There’s also Sathya’s alter-ego, Kalki. Upendra’s screenplay becomes too abstract after interval and also very philosophical. The parallel universes shown in the second half will not be understood by the masses. Even the climax is a letdown. Dialogues are good at places.
Upendra does well. He is entertaining in both the roles — Sathya and Kalki. Besides Upendra, nobody has a lengthy role. Reeshma Nanaiah is okay. Sunny Leone does a fair job. Sadhu Kokila is adequate. Jishu Sengupta performs ably. Murali Sharma has his moments. Indrajit Lankesh makes a mark. Nidhi Subbaiah lends average support. Om Sai Prakash is okay. Guruprasad performs quite well. Others are adequate.
Upendra’s direction is alright but his narration caters more to the class audience. B. Ajaneesh Loknath’s music is so-so. Lyrics are functional. Song picturisations (by Chinni Prakash and Imran Sardariya) are fair. B. Ajaneesh Loknath’s background music is effective. H.C. Venugopal’s camerawork is of a very good standard. Action and stunt scenes (by Thriller Manju, Ravi Varma and Chethan D’Souza) afford thrill. Shivakumar J.’s art direction is of standard. Vijay Raj B.G.’s editing is quite sharp. Dubbing is good.
On the whole, UI does not stand much of a chance in Hindi. Flop.
Released on 20-12-’24 at PVR Icon Andheri (daily 1 show) and other cinemas of Bombay thru Zee Studios. Publicity & opening: poor. …….Also released all over. Opening was dull everywhere.
