Film: 'Porki'; Director: M.D. Sridhar; Cast: Darshan, Praneetha Subhash, Devaraj, Ashish Vidyarthi, Shobharaj, Avinash and Chitra Shenoy; Music: Hari Krishna, Rating: **1/2

Darshan's new release 'Porki' is the remake of Telugu hit 'Pokiri' directed by Puri Jagannadh. The film has already been remade in Tamil with Vijay and Asin, and it's Hindi version 'Wanted' starred Salman Khan and Ayesha Takia.

'Pokiri' and its two remakes were blockbusters. But unfortunately, the Kannada version 'Porki', which instantly reminds of the Telugu film right from the title onwards, pales in comparison with the three previous films.

Director M.D. Sreedhar, who has made many successful remakes earlier, has somehow failed to repeat his magic in 'Porki', though it is a frame-to-frame remake of the original.

The main reason is Sridhar's failure to get things right while narrating the comedy sequences and including some good dialogues. The comedy track was certainly the major attraction of the Telugu original.

The performances of some artists in the Kannada version also don't match up to the original and the earlier remakes.

But the film does have its plus points. The pre-interval fight and the action in the climax sequence are really good. Praneetha makes a good debut and adds some glamour quotient to the film. The popular song 'Sakkathaagavle' has been well choreographed.

The storyline has several twists and turns. Dattu, the protagonist, is shown as a contract killer who makes his living by taking orders from underworld gangs. And an aerobics teacher Anjali takes a liking for him, fully knowing that he has criminal connections.

A crooked inspector, meanwhile, also shows interest in Anjali and threatens her mother that he will foist false cases against them if she doesn't send her daughter to him. The inspector is also hand-in-glove with a criminal Ali Bhai, who controls the underworld activities from abroad.

Ali Bhai comes to Bangalore only to be arrested by an honest police officer. Once he is free, after blackmailing the inspector, he realises that Dattu is actually an undercover agent of the police and gets his father killed. In the end, Dattu finishes Ali Bhai's gang and also the crooked inspector in a big fight.

Darshan, as usual, is very good in fights. But his new clean-shaven look may not be liked by too many of his fans. Praneetha looks gorgeous and Devaraj fits into the role of the police officer. Avinash, Ashish Vidyarthi and Shobharaj just fill in the gaps.

Hari Krishna's musical compositions are good and so is Krishna Kumar's camera work.

'Porki' will be a good film for audiences who have not seen the original, but it is just an average fare for those who compare it with 'Pokiri' or its Tamil version.