Even though young actor Tanish had a decent start to his career with Nachavule and Ride, he is yet to create a niche for himself. Of late he has been trying rigorously to establish himself as a ‘mass’ hero, and Kodipunju is another attempt in the same lines. Unfortunately, this one too doesn’t have enough meat for him.

What’s it about : In a typical Andhra village, Ramachandra Rao (Siva Krishna) is a traditional leader, widely respected amongst many villages for his kindness, courage and justice. Bapineedu, who yearns for the ‘village head’ chair desperately, bothers him. It is during these times that Nandini (Shobhana), daugther of Ramachandra Rao, falls for Abhimanyu (Tanish). Abhimanyu, whose entire life revolves around his mother Sitaratnam (Roja), reciprocates to the girl’s advances, of course with his mother’s permission. In the mean time, Bapineedu’s brother joins Abhimanyu’s group of friends, though his intentions seem dishonest. When Ramachandra Rao sees Abhimanyu getting too close to his daughter, he admonishes the boy and in a fit of rage, calls his mother with some improper names. Rebuked, Abhi, who is touch sensitive to issues related to his mother, challenges Ramachandra Rao that he will win over his ‘village head’ position to prove that he is worthy of his mother. How does this twist in the tale change the scenario for the young lovers, and how Bapineedu tries to manipulate this challenge for his benefit, and who wins finally form the rest of the story.

What is Good : Kodipunju’s very few good moments come from Roja, who seems to have been enjoying such roles these days. Shobhana, abliet her meagre acting skills, is easy on eyes. Tanish too tries to give decent performance, mouths strong dialouges, eventhough he looks a touch on the heavier side. Model Sridhar, who generally looks trim and proper, dons quite a unique role in a small character. M.S.Narayana generates some laughs. Apart from them, there is hardly anything worth remembering in the movie.

What is bad: The movie takes its own sweet time to establish its main problem. When the main ‘challenge’ is finally out, the second half never cares to address it at all. Sivakrishna’s character is pushed to sidelines. Instead, we are asked to bear with repetitive scenes involving the hero, heroine, Roja and Rajalaxmi. In the end a whole new twist, though expected, is added to the movie, with new characters coming in. Unfortunately, neither the cliched few dialogues nor the original moments are anywhere near entertaining.

Technical Departments : It is extremely interesting to notice that not a single department in Kodipunju offers anything special. Few moments in songs do manage to get some attention. Music too is pretty average, and so is editing. The screenplay doesn’t seem to address its core ‘challenge’ till the end, and the dialogue don’t match Tanish’s stature most of the time. Director seemed to have had too many ideas in his mind, making the movie a hotchpotch filled with family scenes, while his main theme was more action or drama oriented.

Bottomline : Kodipunju doesn’t have anything meaty to offer, inspite of its serious attempts to make Tanish a mass friendly star.