Film: 'Aramane'; Cast: Ganesh, Anant Nag, Roma, Avinash, Tara, Karibasavayya and others; Director: Nagashekhar; Producer: K. Manju; Camera: Sekhar Chandru; Music Director: Guru Kiran; Editor: Soundararajan; Art Director: Ismail

It is a sentimental journey of love and sacrifice for lead actor Ganesh in his new film 'Aramane' (the Palace), which is rather well directed by actor-turned-director Nagashekhar.

Brilliant performances by key artists like Ganesh and Anant Nag, lively proceedings in the first half and emotional content in the second are the major factors that set apart Nagashekhar's directorial debut from other Ganesh starrers, which had musical content as the strong point.

In 'Aramane', the story is narrated in a simple and straightforward manner. It, however, has certain negative factors that could have been avoided at the script level. The logic goes for a toss in some sequences.

The film has a faster pace in the first half but slackens in the second, which also has a lesser degree of lighter moments because the focus is on emotional content.

Nagashekhar, who has proved his mettle as an actor, shows he has ability to make a good film.

The film has some touching moments and the relationship between the characters played by Ganesh and Anant Nag is well established. Nagashekhar has avoided gimmicks in the film and zeroed in on extracting top class performances from artists.

The story revolves around a photographer, Amar, who meets a rich and frustrated man, Rajashekhar Urs, on one of his assignments. Their first interaction is a disaster, but Amar's amiable behaviour impresses Urs who later requests him to help sort out the problems in his family.

Amar tries everything to bring the warring family together. It is a one-man mission to accomplish a difficult job, but in the process Amar falls in love. In the climax, Amar succeeds in his job of uniting Urs' family.

Both Ganesh and Anant Nag compete with each other to deliver very good performances. Ganesh steals the show with his funny one-liners. And Anant Nag is superb as Rajashekhar Urs, which has several shades.

Malayalam actress Roma has done well in the limited opportunity provided to her. Tara, Avinash and Karibasavayya have delivered creditable performances.

Sekhar Chandru's camera work brilliantly captures the interiors of the palace set and also beautiful outdoor locales. Soundararajan's editing is perfect.

Three songs of the film are catchy, but their picturisation could have been much better.

Guru Kiran's music has not been able to achieve the standards set in by other music directors of Ganesh's previous films.

Still 'Aramane' is a well-made film and worth a watch.