Another visual treat from Dinesh Baboo. The veteran director who is born and brought up in Kerala [Images] has made his best films in Kannada. And with Akasha Gange, he has just updated his list of classy films. The filmmaker has been credited with the film's story, screen play and dialogues.

Though the camera is handled by young cinematographer Ravi Suvarna, the beautiful visuals definitely bear the stamp of Dinesh Baboo, who started his film career as a photographer. He is one director who sticks to the basics of filmmaking by writing very sound scripts and then packaging them with fantastic technical inputs. Despite a two-year delay in reaching the theatres, Akasha Gange remains fresh and likeable.

The story goes like this: Sonu and Beena fall in love after knowing each other for three years in college. Sonu hails from Sakleshpur where his joint family is controlled by his aunt who values traditions. Sonu's friends advise Beena to go as a music teacher to Sonu's house. Slowly she wins the hearts of the people in the family. But complications occur later and how these complications get resolved in the end forms the rest of the story.

Debutant Ravi Suvarna is sure to get accolades for his work behind the camera and the editor has done a good job. .

Chaya Singh proves her mettle once again with her expressive eyes and good performance. Mithun is much better in this film, but he needs to improve. The surprise package is Smitha, who has done a good job in her debut film. Komal is exceptionally good in comedy. All the other artists are perfectly suited for the role and have done a good job.

The main strength of Akasha Gange is its narration. Each sequence is shot with care for details. The camera angles are pleasing to the eye as well.

Music Director Deva, who earlier worked with Dinesh Babu in Amruthavarshini, has once again delivered melodious compositions which gel very well with the sequences. The melodious musical score goes well with the meaningful lyrics written by K.Kalyan. The songs Malli Malli, Gange Gange, Manase Preethiya Manase rendered by legendary singer S.P.Balasubramanyam and the other three songs of Chitra are really classic compositions.

Despite the lack of novelty in the story, the proceedings look very interesting because of the clean pace in the narrative style.  

Dinesh Baboo has handled a very sensitive subject of pre-marital sex with care. Though one song has been shot sensuously, the director has taken care that the song does not affect the sensibilities of the family audience. However the negative aspect of the film is that too many characters are added in the second half with a view to enhance the level of curiosity among the viewers. The first half of the film is appealing for its sheer presentation, while some of the dragging sequences in the second half act as a dampener.

In a nutshell, a neatly packaged film worth watching.

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