After almost a 2 year halt of major cinematic releases in theatres, Bhajarangi 2 from Sandalwood hit the screens and the timing couldn't have been better. But of course, the tragedy that struck (passing away of Puneeth Rajkumar) Karnataka on the day of its release, will forever be remembered. Despite all the hiccups, this is definitely a feast for the fans and the experience of watching it in a theatre. I like to review Bharajrangi from 2 perspectives.
From a making point of view:
This is one of the brilliant Kannada movies I have seen from a technical aspect. Very few movies in India touch upon the fantasy genre and those who do, are usually very bad at representation. Director Harsha, sets the right tone from the start that this is a fantasy movie and does not try to balance or relate it to the real world which is a very good thing. He also does a very good job in not defining the 'time period' in the movie. It is all left to the viewer's imagination, whether it's mid-80s or 90s, think as you like. So trying to find fault in the representation does not make sense as the movie does not tell you about the time period in the first place. The whole movie pretty much takes place in a studio/green screen set up and the production design is quite brilliant. The romantic song shot in the backdrop of the village set is quite beautiful and you really do not complain much about the authenticity as you have already entered the fantasy world by then. Harsha also doesn't drag the romance part of the movie too much and narrating it as a 'middle-aged' romance works perfectly for both Shiva Rajkumar and Bhavana. Make-up department also deserves a lot of credit along with camera work and visuals.
One of the best parts about the movie is how it has given chances to newcomers for major villain roles without importing anyone from other industries. Primary antagonist Cheluvaraj does a brilliant job in delivering some of the very difficult old Kannada lines and it really makes the Kannadiga in me proud seeing the new gen actors speaking Kannada eloquently. Shivanna as usual eases through two different shades of the role and if anyone wants to learn on how to act with just eyes, he is the master.
From a storyline and sequel point of view:
I know that Bhajarangi 2 is not a direct sequel to the first part although the end of first part hinted at a sequel. The comparison is inevitable as it is the same director-actor duo. Although this movie is much crisper than the first part, it does not have a strong storyline which connects the two timelines. The first part, although takes a while to get to the main story, had a strong connect with the past and a strong cause. Bhajarangi 2 probably tries too hard to convey humanitarian messages amidst its fantasy storyline. Although the second phase of the story is very good to watch and involves some really good action sequences, there are too many characters to comprehend. I personally did not get the same level of goosebumps watching this as compared to the first movie, primarily because of how Shivanna's character evolves in the first movie. I am very happy that Harsha has cut down on any unnecessary songs in this movie, but the background score doesn't make much of an impact until almost up to the events leading upto the climax.
Overall Bhajarangi 2 is a unique watch and looks to take Kannada industry's fantasy genre to a new level. As a fan of Shivanna and mass movies, I probably expected something more, something much stronger.
