IRavan

Karthik Jayaram, once a prominent figure in television and Hindi serials, makes a lackluster return to Kannada cinema with "IRavan," marking his supposed farewell to the industry. Directed by Rams Ranga, the film attempts to weave a suspenseful thriller around murders linked to a medical mafia, but falls flat from the outset.

The story opens with a clichéd chase scene where a nurse is pursued by thugs for crucial evidence, only to meet a predictable tragic end. Meanwhile, the narrative clumsily shifts to a convoluted backstory involving Ratnakar (Krishna Hebbale), an orphanage owner turned legislator, and Dr. Sathyamurthy (Avinash), a cardiologist with a forgettable subplot.

The main antagonist, Mithun Chakravarthy (Karthik Jayaram), portrayed as a philanthropic CEO with a dark side, manipulates orphans and deals in substandard drugs for profit. His encounters are marred by over-the-top action sequences, notably a laughable confrontation with a beggar mafia, where Jayaram fails to deliver convincing dialogue.

Vivek, in his debut role, shows potential but is overshadowed by the film's inconsistent direction and dated filmmaking techniques. Adhvithi Shetty's presence in song sequences adds little to salvage the film's disjointed narrative.

Despite a promising premise, "IRavan" squanders its potential under Rams Ranga's direction, resorting to tired tropes and failing to sustain viewer interest.

The base story is that a doctor gets killed and his son who is studying comes to India and finds out some foulplay in father's death. This is one of the most earnest attempts to talk about the controversial subject of 'medical mafia' in the Indian medical system. The characters are all well cast, the cinematography superb, with some great locations. Very powerful performance from Jayaram Karthik. This movie might be the best performance of the actor so far. He portrayed the grey shade character of the antoginist with ease. His appearence was that of a negative character. Even other actors have done their part well.

Very rarely does a movie hook you from the first scene and this is one such gem. And it makes even more fun that i watched this by fluke looking at the interesting title, even though it had a not much popular cast and a so-called low-budget. But as we have seen often, the finest movies have come from little known small budget movies. Also rare is the genre of true suspense without distraction of garish masala and Iravan fits this bill of a real suspense thriller. No meaningless songs or comedy track etc to play to the gallery. Again, another rare for a Kannada movie. The Script and Screenplay are the super strengths of the movie. Hardly any dull moment, clever use of Setpieces and revealing just enough at the right time, keeping one step ahead of the viewer in the guessing game of what is really going on. And acting from the leads is excellent, matching the script. Also, the background score is wisely subdued. Overall, a must watch Kannada movie. Enjoy!