Bhairathi Ranagal

That's what the film is about: Shivarajkumar walking in slow motion, holding a machete and swinging it around criminals who can't even touch him even if they are holding machine guns. This is where the Kannada film industry has fallen. Every other film is about machete or gun violence. But the story is the same. If not this, then it's blind romance with cringe dialogues.

The screenplay of the movie is yuck. The acting too. The actress is a waste. She has absolutely nothing to do in the film. Her character doesn't help the script at all. Someone wrote this film will be Shivanna's career best. LOL. Has these lockdown kids even watched Shivarajkumar films of the 90's and beyond? None of the villains have any strength. They are not scary, they haven't hurt the 'hero', the same Tamil style where poor people are killed and the hero rises to the occasion and easily kills every bad person. I really feel sad on watching Shivarajkumar signing such pathetic scripts. Why would you do so?

How out Kannada film industry was shining in the 60's and 70's with directors like Girish Kasarvalli, Girish Karnad being as good as (if not better than) Satyajit Ray and Ritwik Ghatak. The likes of Puttanna Kangal, Nagabharana, Shankar Nag brought the industry to such a point, that it's hard to believe that we have fallen into the gutters.

Best Direction by Narthan, the elevations are marvelous. The acting of Shivanna is impulsive. His raw performance was giving me goosebumps by watching it. The story line which is prequel of Mufti took wonderfully by Narthan, improved his direction skills and shivannas look and the way he catches the long is marvelous which cannot be defined in words. My eyes were not enough to watch him on the big screen power packed action cinema which was needed now. This will be the comeback movie after long time for Shivanna not only in Karnataka even compared to other language movies this is one of the best movie. His eyes tell what he is, the look of his eyes is more enough than a sharp knife.

Good movie, Slow screen play, Good acting by Dr Shivaraj kumar, Good BGM, First half is really good, Only Shivanna can take these kind of roles. OM Shivanna still young and energetic, No songs, no vulgarity, pure Kannada cinema for all family watchers, looking for different roles from Shivanna, he is having that capability when compared to other current useless hero's. All the best to all makers of this movie, the Shivanna look is similar to mufti, he carries the whole movie on his shoulders. Cheers to Kannada cinema. Please watch this in big silver screens feel the effect of actions and music.

In 2017, Narthan introduced Kannada audiences to cinema with dark and subtle undertones through Mufti. The movie also utilized both Shivanna and SriiMurali's strengths to perfection. The movie did take some cinematic liberties with the comedy and romance track which did affect the pace of the movie. After almost 7 years Narthan comes back with a more crisper narration through the prequel Bhairathi Ranagal.

Bhairathi Ranagal delivers almost everything that it promises from the promotion material that one would have already seen so far. The story is about the origin and rise of the gangster Bhairathi Ranagal which we saw in Mufti and is well built. The first half takes some time to create an arc for the main character which leads to a powerful interval fight sequence. The second half of the movie focuses on the growth of the character and the empire that he builds. The action sequences are more gruesome than Mufti and are gracefully handled for Shivarajkumar's age. The art direction and camerawork stand out for most parts. The dialogues are very well written and there are some really clever one liners which I hadn't heard in Kannada cinema for a long time. The movie shows some exceptional quality showing some strong symbolic references with respect to main character's costume, his reading habits and some elements from its previous movie, Mufti. However the movie is drawn back by the lacklustre background score. Apart from the main theme, most part of the action sequences feel less impactful because of the music. The movie also lacks a challenging negative character especially in the second half. The movie does not create the same emotional impact in the second half as compared to the first. This movie also suffers from a hurried climax just like Mufti.

Shivanna is the core of the film and he gives it all by underplaying Bhairathi Ranagal's character to perfection. He delivers some of the most impactful dialogues at ease which work really well for this movie. However apart from Shivanna and a gangster role in the first half almost every other supporting character isn't well written. The movie could have been done without Rukmini Vasanth's character or they could have brought in a different actor for the role that is. Rahul Bose tries his best to look menacing but is let down by weak writing.

I personally feel that this movie deserved a bigger scale and more time for Shivarajkumar's stardom and this kind of concept. While this may not disappoint, this movie would have been more suitable for a release before Mufti as we are used to the bigger movies and more exciting rivalries in recent times.

The prequel narrates the story of how Bhairathi Ranagal turned into a rebel at a very young age and pays for it by proving himself to be a positive influence on the society through his reformation into a lawyer. As he thrives to uphold the law and serve justice, he comes across the businessman Parande who along with Khandre, tries to suppress the workers at a factory. The fight for those labourers justice takes a dark turn as Parande makes it personal, Bhairathi Ranagal is again pushed to a corner where he needs to decide whether to serve justice by following the law or serve justice irrespective of law.

The prequel serves the purpose for glorifying the character of Bhairathi Ranagal, after the character became a fan favorite in Mufti. Shivanna has given it 100% despite his health condition and that surprised me, considering he has opted to do his stunts. There is a maturity in his performances nowadays that adds that extra bit of charm. However, the story of Bhairathi Ranagal is not unique and the screenplay turns out to be extremely formulaic. The supporting cast get almost nothing roles and their job is to be around Bhairathi Ranagal. Rahul Bose is wasted in the villain role which was quite generic. The action scenes too became repetitive and they were solely elevated by Shivanna through his presence. The film is still engaging despite the slow narrative and predictability. I am going with a lenient rating as the hardwork does show but the beloved character deserved a better a screenplay.