In cricket they say form is temporary but class is permanent.

You can as well say that in films. And give the example of Venkatesh.

His Sankranthi, released last week, has all the makings of a hit. This is a good achievement for a man who was roundly criticized for his Gharshana and Malleswari (some say this was a hit and some others don't agree).

So when he started making Sankranthi, Venkatesh was under intense pressure to deliver. His archrivals like Chiranjeevi and Nagarjuna were churning out hits after hits. So it behove on him to deliver.

It was just as well that he chose a story that was a hit in Tamil. In many ways, it was just what the doctor ordered for Venkatesh. It is a role ---- that of a caring brother and a loving son --- that is almost second nature to him. His conviction and ease in playing the character was all there to see for everyone.

Now that Venkatesh has come out of his lean patch, his focus must be to go one gear up in his next release, the historical Subhash Chandra Bose.

Venkatesh has also several other projects lined up this summer.

The bottomline is Venkatesh is back, well and truly.