Director Vijaya Prasad transitioned from television to films with his State-award winning feature debut Sidlingu in 2012. The film centred on on a youngster’s infatuation and tracked his coming-of-age journey.

Apart from some melodious tracks, Yogi’s earnest performance was the film’s highlight. It was refreshing to see Ramya, a much sought after actor during that period, play an unconventional heroine as she realistically portrayed the role of a school teacher.

Sidlingu was about the titular character losing his loved ones as he pursued his passion for cars. The rawness with which the film unfolded was a welcome change for the Kannada audience. Vijay Prasad’s bold choices paid dividends in his sophomore film, Neer Dose, in which three odd-ball characters came together to challenge the society that treats them as misfits.

Director: Vijaya Prasad

Cast: Yogi, Sonu Gowda, Manjunath Hegde, Suman Ranganath

Runtime: 150 minutes

Storyline: The sequel to the 2013 film continues the journey of the titular character, who makes new friends in his bid to realise his dream of getting back his favourite car

However, his subsequent movies (Petromax and Thothapuri were forgettable while Thothapuri 2 just about worked) suffered from a similar template. The films resembled each other so much that the bored audience cried for change. Unfortunately, their hoping for something different from Sidlingu 2, Vijaya Prasad’s latest offering, will be dashed.