User reviews

Just watched Sachin Ravi and Rakshit shetty's magnum opus Avane Srimannarayana (ASN) and man! it was delightful watch. Without an iota of doubt, ASN will be regarded as one of the landmark movies in Kannada film industry. However, it may take quite a long time to get that cult classic tag.

Many may consider it as just another mass entertainer with crowd pleasing dialogues and stunts. But ASN is not just that kind of a movie. Its elegance lies in the way the movie has been presented to the audience. Even with its 186 minutes run time, ASN managed to keep the audience hooked to the screen.

When I glanced at some of the reviews written on this movie, those opinions really baffled me. Majority of the reviewers struggled to categorize this movie in to a proper genre. Some told it as comedy ! Others as drama or fantasy genre. I am sure that ASN is such an audacious attempt in Kannada film industry that the regular movie pundits are not yet ready to receive this extravaganza!

ASN is a rare amalgamation of several movie genres and it's difficult to categorize it. It has the feel and look a classical western genre where John Ford had ruled in the 50s and 60s. It also has all the selfishness of a spaghetti western genre where greats like Sergeo Leone ruled. It has a perfect fantasy element, hallmark of Italian great Fedorico Fellini.

After inheriting all these elements of different genre, it has the subtle local touch by having various anecdotes of Indian Mythology especially from Ramayana and Bhagavatam. While the first several points makes it a totally foreign film, the equally heavyweight dialogues with a lace of Indian mythology makes it a very much native film.

One of the hallmark of Rakshit and his team is they blend several aspects of populist world cinema while writing the script. One thing I can say about Rakshit and his script writing team is that they watch loads and loads of world cinema.

The leading character of ASN inspector Narayana is a heady cocktail of many wonderful characters which we observed and cheered on the big screen. He has the shrewdness of Clint Eastwood of "A fistful of Dollars". He has the funny mannerisms of Jack Sparrow. His character burst in to cruise mode as the Clint Eastwood explodes at the climax of Hollywood classic "Unforgiven". In simple words; when Jack sparrow enters a Western movies set with a cigar in Clint Eastwood style in the guise of a cop, that's Narayana aka Rakshit Shetty!

It may look so easy on paper but Rakshit plays brilliantly to the gallery. When in a crowded cinema hall, on the screen, a confused and distraught Hiranyakashipu confronts his confident son Prahlaada_ "elliruvanu ninna ShriHari?"

Enters Narayana by tearing the movie screen! That's a creative entry which gives total justice to the innovative movie title ASN. From that moment till he downs the baddie Jayarama (brilliantly played by Balaji Manohar) in a posture similar to the one Lord Narasimha slaying HiranyaKashipu, its Rakshit all over. He grabs more than 80 % of the screen time but we don't complain. It's a treat to watch. The dialogue delivery is top notch.

All other leading characters like Shanvi Srivastava (playing a serious version of Haripriya of Bell Bottom), Achyuth Kumar, Balaji Manohar (gives you chilling stare) and Pramod Shetty (his left silvered tooth reminds me of a similar right silvered tooth of Tuco played by Eli Wallach in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly!).

Background score from Ajaneesh Loknath is superb. Cinematography by Karm Chawla is amazing. Frame by frame the visual appeal increases. ASN has an awesome production design. From the truck with a "Maya Loka" nameplate to the lone solitary bar in the middle of a barren land, production design is top notch. The wooden floors, wooden staircases, wooden lamp posts, wooden half doors of the bar, cowboy hats, smoking cigars, big beer mugs and card playing mobs.... everything gives you a solid Western feel.

I am giving 9 out of 10 for this wonderful movie.

Rating 9 is because it will go down in the history of Kannada Film Industry as a Masterpiece.

Gave 1 less from the perfect score because I felt there are certain areas needs improvement. It would have been nice if they used more horses in the movie! For a movie with this cinematography and production design, horses would have added more depth to the Western genre feel. It would have been really nice to see Police station with a western movie feel. Also one of the 2 scenes involving Yograj Bhat (as Swami Guptananda) needs a retake! Cowboy Krishna would have spoke at least one dialogue in this movie! rather than making us to wait for his next movie!!

Well, these are minor glitches. Make no mistake. Soon ASN will be counted as a cult classic in Sandalwood. A wonderfully funny, cunning, gritty, charming, talkative character of inspector Narayana will be remembered for long.

Guys! This is easily the most creative and technically brilliant Kannada movie I have ever watched in my life. I was glad to have watched the premier show yesterday.

Every frame is a delight. I am just speechless. The screenplay is a bit tricky and you will probably need a rewatch to understand the minute nuiances and detailing but I am not complaning! I have already booked the tickets for tomorrow. I hope the audience appreciate efforts like these, else our industry will keep churning out garbage like Odeya and Pogaru in the name of creativity.

Special mention to Karm Chawla and the two music directors. They literally take us to a whole new world. Also, the production design is top notch. Congrats to director Sachin for a brilliant output. The making was top notch. Imo this is Rakshit's best performance till date. No other actor could have pulled it off. I think the success of a movie depends on whether it manages it keep you hooked throughout, whether it brings a smile on your face when you are walking out of the theatre, makes you think about it when you are on your way home and perhaps compels you to watch it again. This movie does all that and much more. Thank You to the entire team for an outstanding piece of work.

I have watched many western genre movies in Hollywood and I must confess I never thought that one day I would see a similar genre movie in Kannada. Avane Srimannarayana is a treasure.

Elements of action, comedy, adventure, fantasy and suspense are well blended. Innovative narration techniques must receive a special mention. In my opinion, people who are complaining that the movie is too long and lethargic simply don't know how to enjoy art.

Hats off to the entire cast and crew of the movie. I wish that the Kannada cinema will be remembered in two parts. One part as before Avane Srimannarayana and the other part as after Avane Srimannarayana.

• Direction 9/10
• Action 8.5/10
• Comedy (Classic) 8.5/10
• Suspense /Thriller 10/10
• DOP 9.5/10
• BGM 9.5/10
• Story 8.5/10
• Songs (Visual treat) 8/10
• climax (The final showdown) 9/10

Totally its a bang and a good pan india cinema 9.5/10

It's a one of it's kind film. Everyone will not like it for sure. Because the beauty of the movie is in the way it has been portrayed on the screen. Each and every shot looks very well crafted. Editing is perfect. Every shot is carried perfectly. There are no sharp cuts to distract you. It makes you feel as if you are watching a theater drama. If you are expecting too much from the story, then you might get disappointed. Story is decent with good amount of twists and turns. But for someone who loves the craft of a movie, this is a masterpiece.

One line story shown in 3 hours with very well script,background score and screenplay. Background music was really felt like Hollywood kind of. Cinematography and storytelling was very different and one of the best try in Sandalwood till now. CG was very good. You need to watch film clearly to understand the creativity and effort of filmmaker.

Very entertaining. I am sure I didn't get many references & missed many details but still I enjoyed it a lot. Many clever dialogues. One of my favourite: "He believes politics is the next dacoity." :D

Appreciate Rakshit's vision of building a world of amaravati which has dacoits, cowboys, naataka gang etc. So premise is good. Plot is interesting but little inconsistent or slow paced in narration. Appreciate that almost every scene was unpredictable. So it's a new tale for all of us.

BGM keeps us hooked while songs are extremely average especially for a combo which has given us BB albums like UK, Kirick Party - this is below par. Writing at many places is good, at many places it tries to be over-smart and at places it fell flat.

Plot twist or the main twist falls flat. Not that I was expecting it to be mind blowing but it's just genius stuff for the main character and not for the viewers.

Rakshit gets one of the best introduction scene in his career. He does a neat job in carrying the movie but the character is not as enjoyable as Sherlock Holmes or Jack Sparrow. Writing kinda failed in making him enjoyable or funny.

Achyuth at his natural best. Shanvi has couple of expressions in entire movie and speaks kannada like my 3 year old niece. She was fine for her half-baked character.

Balaji Manohar as Jairama stole the show. He lived the role and made us feel for him! For me he was one of the best part of ASN and I din't know he had it in him. While Pramod Shetty as Tukaram was fine.

24crs budget antare but production values not up to the mark. Somewhere it was not completely convincing for me. Also color grading ella correctag maadilla... could have been more believable.

The main problem (out of the negligible ones) about ASN is the climax. Climax sequence is like 25-30 mins long. The build up for climax is very good and as each minute passed I was hoping that Rakshit & team nail it like KGF did in climax. But all the set up collapsed due to poor writing or over ambitiousness. You will see all the weak writing, unnecessary swag, cartoonish/ video game act and random stuff happening in last 15 mins. It's disappointing for me to believe that ASN had a great chance to have unanimous positive review among A audience, if it had got the last 15 mins right.Poor CGI also adds thuppa to this collapse. Also the climax desperately needed Cowboy Krisna's cameo in the climax. His intro got equal number of whistles and applause as Rakshit did.

Just to summarize, ASN was not supposed to be a BC movie anyway so it's not for all. But unfortunately it may disappoint many in A audience as well. ASN is definitely a new experience for everyone, at least for the new story they're trying to tell and for many moments but unfortunately it left a bitter taste in the end.

From the experience perspective, request you all to watch it. It's not a bad movie for sure. Experience this world of Rakshit and find out for yourself. I hope this movie finds its maximum audience.

Also in a similar genre, Bell Bottom stands out as the best movie for 2019.

First half laughter... second half thriller... No vulgar... Swamake movie maker... Who's is the real winner.... Pakka 100days party dinner.... Hats off to musician and editor..... HE'ART'ATAINMENT movie power.... Sri Hari lakshmi pair super....

Epic movie...ppl says it is lag ,class audience welcomes it with swag... each and every scene is chained very well ,so length can't be reduced....

Good characters, amazing story telling, superb opening song, all goes astray midway and ends up being an average fare. Would have been a wonderful entertainer had the grip over the narrative and the story was a bit firmer.

Story telling 12 on 10, Character building 11 on 10.

Brave attempt , by the team of ASN. Go to your nearest theater and watch this movie/theather play/skit . This movie is a combo of all of the above genre.

It's pure entertainment.

As a rakshit shetty fan..waiting since 3 years after the release of Kirik party , went for this movie on the first day of its release. Pros... -the storyline is well built which keeps engaging -there is no bit of nudidity -entertainment and comedy elements is nice in the first half -characters are well selected and the screenplay,bgm is good

Cons... -the runtime is lengthy (3 hr 6 min) -second half is bit boring -some songs are not needed -climax could have been shot better..it's quite unrealistic

Overall it's a different genre of film in KFI. You can watch it one time.

Nothing in the movie please dont waste ur time and money screenplay is good direction is awsum but story was nothing i dont know why are all giving 10/10 rating worst story...

Im so amazed to see South Indian film these days. They are much much better in making such adventure-comedy and epic saga film. Great acting, action, story and cinematography.

This movie is a little over three hours long. Trust me, you won't notice.

Evil bandits, skeevy politicians, internecine battles, thrills, chills, a beautiful girl, an overly-devoted acting troupe, a mysterious lost treasure...

A hero who is a crack shot, a keen fighter, a highly intelligent lateral thinker... And lazy, egotistical, a tad narcissistic, and just a teeny bit corrupt.

This film has it all!

You won't be enlightened or educated, but you will DEFINITELY be entertained.

I dont know why i have felt like this, i totally loved the movie plot point and the taking,screenplay,music & cinematography but the protagonist performance and character was very much in line with jack sparrow in pirates of carribean. But overall a very well made indian movie as a whole.

Right from the start movie is very exciting. The movie is inspired from Indian Amar Chitra Katha comics, the background score and music is very well designed by Ajaneesh Loknath and Charan Raj, this movie has got a unique style of special effects which is interesting and till the end movie is very entertaining which is a good way to end a year with wonderful adventurous ride.

Rakshit & team has given their best. Tremendous effort from team deserves a watch.

Director would have done a great, if could have connected roles tightly and trimmed bit (run time). Overall it's a good attempt for new genre movie in Kannada Film Industry.

Avane Srimannarayana - Just with 2 Films, KGF and ANS, Kannada film industry have conquered its 1st position. If the factor is entertainment, Avane Srimannarayana is the best film of 2019

Innovative, Creative Stunt Choreography Artistic Location Management Absolutely witty and entertaining dialogues Totally fabulous performance by Rakshith Shetty, Achyuth Kumar, Balaji Manohar, Pramod Shetty Music and songs intact with the situation Amusing tracks by Charang Raj, Ajaneesh Lok

There are only few actor turned heros who has no boring or below average films in filmography. One is Rakshit Shetty. Being a fan from Ullidavaru Kandate, Godhi Banna Sadharana Mykatty, Kirik Party, this ANS adds into the list. And how amazingly he wrote the story without spoilng any entertainment and flow in it.

The film revolves around a treasure hunt in an utopian village. VFX, Screenplay is totally mind-blowing. Important scenes like Hero Entry, Intermission, Climax etc is totally from out of box. this movie has a run-time around 2.30 Hours, however without any cheap romantic scenes, boring songs or sentimental scenes, ANS team only concentrated on how to make a movie which entertains audiences from start till end. and they Succeeded in that.

The one who gives continues super hit films, Avane Srimannarayana aka Rakshit Shetty Watch it in Kannada for Originality 9 out of 10

See, first of all i am a sucker of mystery stories, irrespective of detective inclusion. then the trailer was cut so beautifully it raised my interest. i thought of it being a western drama. after watching it completely felt like to be adopted from a shirshendu mukherjee novel. however, even liked the homages to captain jack sparrow :P.

This team never fails to amaze. Clever writing from Rakshit Shetty & The Seven Odds. The actors have justified their roles, especially Balaji Manohar as Jayarama. Movie may seem a bit lengthy, but trust me, it's worth every minute on the watch.

Though the story never reveals the timeline when it takes place; it all takes place in a fictional town. That little disclaimer makes "Suspension of disbelief" seem an easier task when compared to many other Indian Movies.

Elements of action, comedy, adventure, fantasy and suspense are well blended. Innovative narration techniques must receive a special mention.

First of all you cannot sit for so long.. Don't know why it's made so lengthy.. Movie is not good in anything.. Comedy Action Thriller.. No good plot, bakawas story.. Everything is bad in movie.. Not worth of watching even in TV