Nayana has some interesting performances but it is only in the second half that we come to the real story, says Paresh C Palicha.
K N Sasidharan made two movies in the mid-1980s that were critically appreciated. One was Akkare (1984) with Bharath Gopy and Madhavi in the lead. It had a funny take on the craze for going to the Gulf and making it big.
After nearly three decades, he is back with Nayana, a film about a young girl with achromatopsia or colour blindness.
Nayana is played by Baby Anikha. Aupam Kher plays an old man and fellow patient in the hospital, suffering from retinal cancer, who will lose his eyesight after surgery.
We come to the real story only in the second half of the film.
In the first half a maladjusted couple try to do their best for their only child. The couple is played by Prakash Bare and Mia George.
The husband had insisted on aborting their first child, in the initial months of their marriage, because the pregnancy would ruin their honeymoon. Moreover, the foetus was a female.
There are issues between the couple about the child they have. The wife wants the girl to learn dance and participate in dance reality shows and win a flat. The husband wants his daughter to pursue art, which is what she is interested in.
The child’s interest in art enhances the tragic effect of her visual disability. Nothing subtle about this plot.
In the second half, the scene shifts to a hospital specialising in ophthalmology and the relationship between the kid and the character played by Anupam Kher. But it does not take us anywhere or help the characters evolve beyond a point.
Prakash Bare and Mia as parents seem emotionally detached and sometimes overly theatrical.
Anupam Kher tries to bring in a touch of reality but does not succeed beyond a point.
Jagadeesh, who plays Anupam Kher's assistant, and Kalpana who appears as a nurse in the hospital, try their best to inject some humour into the proceedings.
Nayana is a huge disappointment. It has nothing unusual or interesting to say.
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