Aakasamanthaa is a beautiful movie about the relationship between a doting father and an adorable daughter. It is narrated in a series of flashbacks by Prakash Raj (the father). The style of narration is like that of Tom Hank’s in Forrest Gump. The continuity is seamless and the incidents in the relationship are beautifully crafted.

What is it about : Aakasamantha is about Raghu and his daughter Abhi. Prakash Raj (as Raghu) and Trisha (as Abhi) have given first rate performances. The movie takes us the viewers, through the various milestones of Abhi’s life as Raghu experiences and explains them to his friend in a park. The friend’s role is essayed in a mature manner by Jagapathi Babu. The director lays an excellent emphasis on a father’s special bonding with his daughter and vice-versa. The initial half of the film focuses on how lovingly Raghu sees Abhi. And then as time goes by Abhi grows up to become a beautiful and intelligent woman. She goes to Delhi for her MBA and meets and falls in love with Joginder Singh (excellently played Ganesh Venkatraman). The rest of the film is about Prakash Raj coming to terms with his daughter’s independence and his own dependence on her love. Aakasamantha is not a narration to be told. It is an experience that needs to be enjoyed.

What is Good: Trisha. To share screen space with Prakash Raj and then to exceed him in histrionics is no mean achievement. A lesser actress would have simply succumbed and given up. But Trisha measures up to the Titan and in more frames than one she even exceeds him, Honestly it is her film. All the rest play around her. Not since Sridevi in her hey days have we seen an actress who can carry a movie on her shoulders. But the credit for Trisha’s performance should go to director Radha Mohan., He has given a tight script, and a strung together scenes that will make any father’s eyes well up with pride. The scene where Trisha asks Prakash Raja as to what is it that he finds objectionable; about Jogi is easily the best in the movie. It is direct without being dramatic and hats off to the director for many such scenes like that.

What is bad:Honestly – nothing much. But if one is keen on searching for faults one can say that the pace in the second half is slightly slow. But that is beside the point. This is one of the movies that you are likely to be disappointed because it got over so soon!

Me Thinks:Do not miss it. Take your daughter, especially if she is in her teens. This is a movie that a father should watch along with his daughter(s).

Tailpiece: Why don’t they ever make movies like this in Tollywood? Surely there are enough talented actors in the industry. But the question is where are the producers with the vision and guts to mount a project like this.