Maverick Mayhem
Even though I missed it in theatres I still watched the movie amidst a lot of hype. The movie is a dream for any star. Note carefully, any star, not any actor. But to be a star requires a lot of charisma. It wouldn’t work on just anyone. And not everyone can become a star just by being in the film. Yash had that screen presence. Being someone who has fairly any knowledge about Kannada cinema, it still gave me goosebumps, that too in Tamil, wonder how it’d have been for Kannada people who had known the language and known Yash. And how much it’d have meant for Yash fans. Just the thought of it is so unimaginable.
It’s a type of film which Vikram would have been looking for, looking for in his entire life. I actually feel like making a film on Vikram on how he wanted to choose an elusive script till the end of his life and finally doesn’t get it. I guess that would be his ‘Raging Bull’. Funny fellow.
The fact that it appealed even as a Tamil movie shows the sincerity in translation. The words, poems and more importantly punch dialogues were built up superbly. Even though the number of slowmos and build up music gets overboard after a point. It still adds value to the film and doesn’t end up like a Simbu film where there are introduction shots in every single scene. In that way the director had succeeded. It’s only through his firm belief that a film like this had been made. Even if he had had an iota of doubt, it’d have got transformed in the film and could have spoilt.
The movie minces no words. Its heroism right from the start. If you read the story on paper it’s a typical MGR film. That too the film happens during 70s so it’s a perfect MGR film. But with the graphics, slowmos and lighting it looks more present. But in a way it spoils the film too. The action sequences could have been definitely better. We hardly see Yash in anything. It’s like seeing Dinosaurs in Jurassic Park. You get to see only part of him, thanks to the lighting. It’s okay if it had been used that way once. But being too clever in the action sequences got very much evident. He knows that he can’t fully light up a fighting scene because he can’t afford to make it look great then.
The villains are just a way bit too much. They’re like video game villains, one after another in different get up. The shock value for each of the villain remains the same. After a point it becomes overwhelming as the same template was used. It’s only a richer way of introducing villains but at ground level its same as how Perarasu does in introducing Pattasu Balu. In spite of it, the villains did a fair job in being villains. The only bad casting seemed to be the heroine who looked so out of place as someone from the outside world who had jumped into the film. You need someone like a Deepika Padukone or Anushka Sharma to be a femme fatale. Here Srinidhi Shetty was not fatal but just a causality. It’s like being the only human in ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit’. She looked like the only mortal in the world of caricatures. Who would have guessed that being mortal would be such a negative trait?
The film has a number of great moments but to know the story one has to keenly hear. Read again, hear and not see. That’s a big mistake. Narration should be a style but a necessity. Here the story is conveyed only through narration because Rocky (Yash) is so busy fighting, he doesn’t have time to talk. The narration overlaps a number of times and so is the storyline. Even if it was intentional, it disrupts the viewers. It’s not made with any formula. Just random throwing here and there and cut horribly wrong. It’d have easily been given a more traditional approach and made it look great. This needless experimentation spoils the joy of viewers. Instead of enjoying the film we’re made to think who’s who.
In spite of all this, the film still works and makes me very eager to watch the second part in theatres (if we’re alive by then, that is) because of the power. Like Rocky realizes. KGF is a powerful film. Like I’ve stated, its mayhem but still its maverick. Superbly made. Makes you feel as if you’re in theme park with thrilling rides back to back and there is no one to stop. Yash’s presence is terrific, except for that one drunk scene with the heroine, all other scenes he was awesome. Even the kid who had acted as rocky had done a fair job. The thrill remains.
This might not be a perfect film. This might not be a Bahubali, yet. Still we have one more part to arrive. Remember that Bahubali became a Bahubali only after Part 2 so I have high confidence that it’d good. Credit has to be given to Prashanth Neel for visualizing this larger than life story and executing it properly. This might not be perfect but it really could be a beginning.
constantscribbles 