Lucky Man, at the outset, has all the workings of a perfect rom-com. Arjun Nagappa (Darling Krishna), the film’s protagonist, marries his best friend Anu (Sangeetha Sringeri) on a whim, but clearly has feelings for childhood crush Meera (Roshni Prakash). Arjun isn’t happy professionally either and in fact, hates being the ‘quality control’ guy for his father-in-law’s commode business. Stuck in this rut of a romance-less marriage and the squat of an Indian toilet, he now seeks an intervention and voila, God (Puneeth Rajkumar) himself enters in a Bruce Almighty-like fashion to offer him a way out. Lucky Man is an extra special film because it marks Puneeth’s final appearance onscreen as a film character and one can sense the energy surge up inside the cinema hall every time he is seen in his full glory.

At its heart, Nagendra Prasad’s Lucky Man is a coming-of-age tale centred on the hero’s journey to reclaim his lost life. But in essence, it’s a measured combination of fantasy, comedy and urban romance that refers to a number of Hollywood hits such as Oh, God!, It’s a Wonderful Life, Liar Liar, and others. But the charm of Lucky Man, at least on paper, is how it employs the various elements.