It’s time to celebrate the first major festival of 2018 and a veritable feast of films is being offered to fans. Every producer scours the calendar for a long weekend these days and this is the first of the year. Bad news travels swiftly and makers want to mop up as much before reality dawns on the first working day after release. If the opinion is positive nothing can stop the film from succeeding irrespective of who the star is. There are only two kinds of films, hit or flop. Good or bad is perspective. Kannada filmmakers are usually cautious during festivals because most of the premier screens are grabbed by other language films. The apprehensions are genuine though it’s mostly used as an excuse for inept content and execution.
The makers of ‘Humble Politician Nograj’ apparently had no such fears having produced films like ‘Kirik Party’ and ‘Godhi Banna Sadharna Maikattu’. They know audiences here simply yearn for competent fare, disappointed as they are with directors who showed promise initially and so-called superstars who assume they know what their fans expect. Danish Sait is a star with a following and his prank calls on a radio station have helped calm frayed nerves in peak hour traffic. He looks as confident in front of the camera as he is with just a mike. The film is technically tardy and the gags seem stretched after a certain point. We do titter at the bumbling politicians escapades and Danish’s wordplay is amusing at times, but you have a sneaky feeling the joke is on us because we never fail to vote for such buffoons. The film got a good opening and is doing reasonably well in the multiplexes. The entire credit should go to Danish’s ability to sustain the seemingly silly episodes.
The biggest release a couple of days before the festival holidays commenced was Pawan Kalyan’s ‘Agnyathavaasi’ which also happens to be his 25th release. The stars last outing ‘Katamarayudu’ disappointed his legion of fans and the reason frenzy was whipped up for this one is his reuniting with the hit director Trivikram whose ‘Attharintik Dharedhi’ revived Pawan’s career which has seen consistent highs and lows. There were murmurs that the film is ‘inspired’ by a French hit and the people who had bought the rights legitimately were going to sue the producers. Obviously things have been settled quietly with a small fortune being paid as settlement. Anyway multiplexes boasted of 16 shows in a day but reports after the early morning viewings mostly watched by fanatics was not encouraging. I’m no longer disappointed with big star vehicles because it’s become a way of life. It’s mostly about the exploits of one man whose story is just not good enough for the world to know. Well ‘Agnyathavaasi’ quickly dispelled the theory that people will throng the theatres on festive holidays. The talk quickly turned to whether it was a bigger flop than ‘Spyder’. As usual Trivikram the director faced the ire of irate fans. The number of shows were reduced drastically. The unstoppable Balakrishna’s ‘Jai Simha’ probably gained a bit.
Two talented Tamil actors whose fortunes have been on the wane had releases. Vikram’s long in the making ‘Sketch’ and Suriya’s ‘Thanan Serndha Kootam’ vied for festival honours. The latter is inspired by ‘Special 26’ and tweaked to suit Tamil nativity as the makers will claim. Set in the eighties about a straight forward youth who turns conman with the necessary justifications there’s a certain anxiety to add popular ingredients. Vignsh Shivn’s strength is humour and there’s a tongue in cheek flavour to the film. While Keerthi gets a raw deal Suriya shines in a role that catches him performing with effortless ease. You’ll enjoy the film if you haven’t watched the original.
If you’re not clear like Vijay you end up being Vikram. While the former decided he’ll not experiment content wise or transform physically the latter chose the arduous path shown by Kamal. Every actor wants to be applauded and venerated. They want their coffers filled and showcases crowded with trophies. Vikram has reached where he is after a long period of struggle and an accident that nearly maimed him. If ‘Dhil’ and ‘Dhool’ increased his fan base ‘Pithamagan’ proved he was prepared to invest in strong content. ‘Anniyan’ put him right on top but a slew of bad films started a slide. There seemed to be a lackadaisical attitude towards his selection of films. ‘Sketch’ has been long in the making and Vikram appears to be sleepwalking through the role, appearing tired and detached as if saying ‘couldn’t you write something more interesting’? Guess we’ll have to wait for Gautam Menon’s ‘Dhruva Natchathiram’ to see Vikram in a role and film of substance!
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