Googal

Harish and Nandini are a married couple with young daughter. When Nandini falls in love with her caring neighbor Balu, she elopes with him. Harish sets out on a journey to find her. Does he win her back?

V Nagendra Prasad is back as a director, this time with an emotional tale revolving a family and infidelity. The title had everyone puzzled. Googal isn't the search engine spelled wrong, instead it is a small village in Karnataka, which forms an integral part of the film's plot. While the intent of the film is nice and the second half, especially the climax, is worth a mention, the film could have been handled better and had some better casting for some of the leads.

The story begins with an almost ideal setting of Harish and Nandini's household. We think that their home, with their little daughter Kanasu, has nothing to worry about. But soon we get to know about a shocking truth, when Nandini decides to elope with her younger neighbor Balu. When Harish sets the out to find her, he also encounters Balu's girlfriend, who is equally disappointed that she has been cheated by her man on the day he has asked her to run away and marry him. The film sees the lead actors go through a symbolic journey and how they come to terms with their emotions forms the rest of the story.

The film also has a good ensemble cast that add the necessary laughs when required. But there first half seems a little stretched, while the second half pulls it back together. Shubha Poonja deserves a special mention for her performance, especially in the climax, where she has given it her best. Nagendra Prasad seems earnest. One wishes the other two leads were more carefully chosen, as their performances seem rather forced.
Watch this film if you want to watch an emotional tale, this does promise different fare from the regular masala commercial films.