Idolle Ramayana

Plot

The film is set against the backdrop of Rama Navami festival. Bhujanga (Prakash Raj) is a businessman returned from Gulf is highly respected in his home town. Bhujanga has invested in a small commercial property next to his house, which he has let out to the shopkeepers and except one of his shop lies vacant. He is short-tempered and doesn't want his daughter to study further and wants her to get married. His anger increases when his daughter has been arrested for staging a protest, during the time he meets his friends every evening inside the vacant shop and they bond every night over a few drinks.

Bhujanga witnesses a prostitute Susheela (Priyamani) and wants to bond with her, however despite his intentions Bhujanga gets scared fearing that his reputation will be tarnished. During one such evening, Shiva (Satyadev Kancharana / Aravind Kuplikar) an auto rickshaw driver and a friend of Rajeeva locks the prostitute along with Bhujanga inside the vacant shop promising to unlock the shop shutter after they spend some time together inside the locked shop.

Meanwhile, Shiva meets one of his passengers, a film director (Prudhviraj / Achyuth Kumar), who had forgotten his bag in Shiva's autorickshaw that morning. Director on knowing that he would get his bag back, celebrates by offering a couple of drinks to Shiva, however both get into trouble with the cops and fails to return that night to open the shutter as promised to Bhujanga. They both get released in morning as the inspector Ramdas (Rangayana Raghu) is a good friend of the director. Both Bhujanga and Susheela spend a couple of nights together inside the locked shutter waiting for Shiva's return to unlock it.

In the end, both come out from the shutter and Bhujanga goes into home where he comes to know that his daughter's friend has opened the lock and that she knows everything but did not revealed it to everyone. Bhujanga decides to postpone his daughter's marriage by allowing her to study. Director gets back the script from Susheela (It is not revealed how they are related) but he decided to make a film on her incidents which happened in shutter.

Cast

Soundtrack

Soundtrack has only one song composed and sung by Ilaiyaraaja.

Critical reception

Times of India wrote "This film is a definite must-watch for those who want cinema that doesn’t have the usual action, song and dance routines and look for a good storyline. The performances are the cherry on the cake here." The Hindu wrote "For those who have not watched the original, Idolle Ramayana offers a different experience, as it is rooted in nativity." Bangalore Mirror wrote "The film makes you laugh and sympathise at the plight of the characters. But what it lacks is a heartwarming experience because it is so clinically made and sanitised."

Sify wrote "Mana Oori Ramayanam is a moral fable told with deft direction by Prakash Raj. Priyamani's excellent performance is mainstay. Despite its length and slow pace, the middle portion makes an engrossing watch."