Some of the young film directors and quality conscious producers in the Kannada film industry are now breaking new frontiers to make meaningful films, which are lapped up by the audience who are also looking for freshness.

Hence the success of many films like Mungaru Male and Duniya to mention a few. But there are some people who refuse to change and continue to stick to the old age notions that illogical and senseless tearjerkers may still appeal to a large section of the audience.

Many of such movies may get the audiences' approval, but they do not stand out for their quality. Ganana Mane is one such film. The film does not have any freshness, be it in the script, which lacks quality or the age-old narration, which tests your patience. What saves the film from becoming unbearable is the fine performances by the lead pair of Shivaraj Kumar and Gauri Munjal, and the two good tunes by music director Manohar.

Now for the story. Raja is a bus conductor whose family is based in a village. He tries to make his family happy with his meagre salary. He has a greedy stepmother and her siblings who are out to exploit their brother.

A rich girl Gauri is impressed with Raja for his good nature and helpful nature. She marries him despite stiff opposition from her rich father. But the problems increase after marriage when the greedy stepmother and the entire family comes to Bangalore. The stepmother makes Raja's life miserable by creating misunderstandings in the family. As a result, Gauri walks out of the house, but later realises her mistake. Later, Gauri's father plans to eliminate Raja.

We find an abundance of such films in Kannada. Also, the format of narration is not new. The film has a slow pace, which tests your patience in the first half.

The second half is better and could have been more interesting with some good picturisation of songs and sequences. But many of the well-composed songs are shabbily picturised, which is surprising since director Mahendar is known for his top picturisations.

Shivaraj Kumar tries to salvage the film with his good acting. His performance in the sequences in the second half stands out. Gauri Munjal has done justice to her role. The comedy sequences in the film, however are just childish narratives.

Music director V Manohar shines in this film.

All in all, an ordinary fare.

Rediff Rating: