While the nation debates the death penalty, film director Sai Prakash makes it the central theme of his latest film, Parodi.

On reflection, that should be spelt 'parody', for a parody is all this film is. Clearly the director, who also takes credit for the script, has not wasted any of his precious time on research into the hows and whys of the death penalty.

The film borrows liberally from Nana Patekar's Krantiveer; the director adds to it a standalone comedy track that has no connection with the story. Worse, even those comedy sequences are a direct rip-off of the Vivek-Vadivelu sequences in Manadai Thirudi Vittaal.

The film revolves around mischievous school drop-out Vijay, and a patriotic mother who abandons him. Vijay goes to Bangalore and takes refuge in the house of do-gooder Ranganna.

Vijay believes that force is the only solution to the problems of the poor; thus, when a nexus of politicians, mafia and bureaucrats attempt to grab land belonging to some slum dwellers, the hero gives the victims an aggressive edge.

In the altercation that ensues, Ranganna is killed; Vijay takes the law into his own hands; the death sentence is invoked. and so on, to an eminently predictable denouement.

Sai Prakash has clearly learnt nothing in the two decades that have elapsed since he made his first film. The real tragedy of Parodi is that a potentially serious subject matter has been mishandled by the producers and the director.

Upendra and Neha are the saving graces of this otherwise weak film. Rangayana Raghu has come out with a decent performance.

The music -- by Rajesh Ramanath, who scored a hit with Aishwarya -- disappoints; veteran cinematographer Ramesh Babu and editor Manohar turn in lukewarm efforts; the direction is poor.

The ineptness of this film is, in short, such that even a popular star like Upendra can do nothing for its prospects at the box office.

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