Gana Movie Review : Gana review: Gana arrives a little late to the time-travel party

From OTT’s most popular series Dark to Priyanka Upendra’s 1980 to BS Pradeep Varma’s Murphy - if there is one thing that most Sci-fi films have convinced us, it is that messing with the space-time continuum can have disastrous effects. But, this doesn’t seem to be the case in Prajwal Devraj’s latest offering Gana, which itself is a faithful remake of the Telugu film, Play Back.

Filmed almost around the same time, 1980, Murphy and Gana bear deja vu-esque similarities with each other, especially in the first half an hour. Gana (Prajwal Devraj) is an investigative journalist. He moves to an old house with his friend (Shivraj KR Pete). He gets a call to his antique landline phone from Sujatha (Vedhika), which is intended for someone else. Sujatha’s landline, however, repeatedly connects only to Gana’s landline. With no choice left, Sujatha seeks Gana’s help on her passport issue, to which he obliges. They decide to meet each other at the passport office. But when they fail to meet despite arriving at the same location, they realise that they are living in different time periods; Gana in 2022 and Sujatha in 1993. Gana takes a special interest in a murder case and digs deep to find the culprit. Regular conversations with Sujatha make him realise that there is a direct connection between the murder case and Sujatha. Upon realising that changing events in the past can alter the present, Gana tries to prevent the murder with Sujatha’s help. But can the present really be tweaked?

Written and directed by Hari Prasad Jakka, the plot is just adapted in a basic way possible from its original source material. The story doesn’t include any macabre moments, and because of a very familiar plot line and mediocre efforts to jazz it up, Gana fails to strike a chord. Prajwal is honest in his efforts, he charms his way throughout the film. Vedhika, Yasha Shivakumar, Krishi Thappanda have little to do as actors, but are convincing in their roles. Sampath Raj and Ravi Kale have played their roles with the utmost sincerity. The music and choreography are nostalgic; the action sequences look too staged. Gana ends up being an average commercial film that has borrowed ideas from here and there. The drama unfolds only in the second half, with the film having some entertaining moments. But it struggles to come together as a whole.

A cosmic event creating a portal and the possibility of parallel universes should have made for an immensely engrossing tale. But, Gana has arrived a little late to the time-travel party as most people are now familiar with the genre. Though it has nothing new to offer, if you are a sci-fi thriller fan, Gana makes for a one-time watch for its earnest performances.