Bhagavanth Kesari movie review

 

It was a confusing movie where the story did not make any sense. The primary reason was that there was just too much that was happening and none of it added up well. It was as if the script was written on the fly as the movie was being shot. The first 5 minutes of the movie where a high court judge goes into hiding and the story of the protagonist is told has absolutely nothing in relation to the other parts of the story. Was it a story of revenge where the protagonist seeks the head of the villain who had decimated his village? Or was it a story of women empowerment where the protagonist intends to empower a young girl into realizing her potential? If the revenge story was the mail plot, it was a standard revenge plot with some unnecessary women empowerment thrown in at the end. If it was the latter, it was painful to watch. As with most movies that talk about mental issues, Sreeleela's character has a random mental sickness that begins after the sudden passing of her father, and because of a promise that Balakrishna had made to him, he tries everything in his power to force her in the direction of the promise. Sreeleela's character's opinion is never sought in the movie, and her decisions are never taken seriously. Patriarchy comes to the fore in large parts where the hero continues to save the heroine multiple times in the movie, even after she realizes her potential as per the hero.

The first half of the movie is watchable, with the focus being primarily on the revenge part of the story. The elevation of the hero happens slowly and simmers well till it explodes and comes to life by the interval. The second half of the movie is where the movie meanders on as the focus is on the empowerment part, and there is lots of virtue signaling that is done throughout.

The performance of Arjun Rampal as the villain was perfect. He was menacing, and even though he was let down by the script, his presence filled the screen completely. It was refreshing to see him not get his voice dubbed, and he did an excellent job at learning the new language and speaking the dialogues in it. Balakrishna was excellent, unlike in most of his movies, whereas Kajal Aggarwal was there to look pretty (ironic since the movie spends a large portion of its runtime talking about empowerment). Sreeleela showed glimpses of her acting prowess, but got very little screentime to showcase it. The rest of the supporting cast did their bit. I was just glad that a 63 year old Balakrishna romanced (I think. I do not remember any songs with Kajal, who played the love interest) a 38 year old Kajal Aggarwal, and not a 22 year old Sreeleela in the movie.

I do not remember seeing any song in the movie, apart from the Ganesha song in the beginning and the post credits song at the end. The music was forgettable. The background music stood out, with the music when the hero was on screen helping in the elevation of the character. The sentimental music was copied from the "Naa cheli Roja ve" song from Roja though.

The one saving grace in the movie were the dialogues that were given to Balakrishna to elevate his character. I had written down a few while I was watching the movie; they were that good. The first half is a must watch only for those dialogues, and for Arjun Rampal's screen presence. The rest of it is forgettable.