Shivaji Surathkal

This movie is some what similar to Murder on the Orient Express with some extra masala. No doubt overall acting is good but here and there I could see over acting.

Brilliant writing and screenplay. Story and the making keeps us engaged throughout the movie. Acting is sub-par.

Genuinely the writer had given his best possible attempt (and succeeded) in adapting the story-line of "murder in the orient express" and added desi-elements to make it a proper sandalwood experience. Definitely everything worked except the casting and acting which wasn't bad but didn't felt very clever (or didn't matched the standards of the writing).

The songs kill the movie. Otherwise a great movie. The graphics on the pigeons are very fake. Like a early 2000 video game. The dead pigeons were really badly made. There was too much focus on the detective. They could have made the hotel a little more dingy would have put some fear in audience.

The twists are good as it is hard to guess the suspense. Engaging subject. But very poor screenplay. The dubbing and acting do not match well. First half is boring.

Before I start writing about the movie, I need to talk about Ramesh Aravind first. The man does not age. If you see his Amruthvarshini and this movie back to back you would not guess that they are 23, yes freaking TWENTY THREE, years apart. He looks the same, maybe better now. And he, as usual, carries this movie forward with his grace and versatility. I wish he keeps giving such performances and entertain us.

Coming back to the movie, if you are "Detective" Genre enthusiast then some or the other time you would have wanted Sherlock Holmes to appear in a Agatha Christie novel!. No? Was it just me?. Ok. But if you did (or did not !), then you need to watch Shivaji Surathkal. The movie is inspired by these two greatest things that happened to detective genre. And it does so majestically.

The movie looks inspired from one of the finest novels of Agatha Christie. But it is not a remake or an adaptation, its central theme is original. One of the problems with the detective genres is to keep the attention of the viewers till the end, else the viewer will guess the climax and lose interest in the story. The story of Ranagiri Rahasya avoids this problem successfully. It keeps you guessing till the end. Editing and sound effects add to this distraction and creates a nice recipe to be enjoyed at the climax.

Though there are chinks in the story which could impact the overall watching experience, the movie is worth your time. Hope Akash Srivastsa pens more such movies in this series. Will it be a far of thought if I say that Shivaji Surathkal can be made into a graphic novel? Only one person can answer that.