Sree Ganesh Parashuram’s debut directorial, which also launches composer Ritvik Muralidhar as an actor is now available to stream
When the Kannada dark comedy Baang was announced, it raised a lot of eyebrows for its casting choices. Debutant director Sree Ganesh Parashuram got renowned musician and composer Raghu Dixit in a pivotal role, as a gangster called Daddy, with Shanvi Srivastava joining him as a gun-totting baddie called Leona. The film also starred composer Ritvik Muralidhar in his debut as an actor, as well as Sunil Gujjar, Natya Ranga and Shravya. Released in theatres in mid-August, the film is now available to stream and has been picked up by Amazon Prime Video.
Baang movie review: Raghu Dixit-Shanvi Srivastava film is more whimper than bang
At the core of Baang is the delivery of a bag with certain very valuable items meant for Daddy, which ends up in the boot of Aarav’s (Ritvik) car and then goes missing from there too. With the car being the last known place that the bag was seen in, Daddy kidnaps Aarav’s younger brother Aayush and dumps him in an industrial freezer, leaving Aarav with just enough time to try and retrieve the bag, Together, with his friends Sunil (Sunil Gujjar) and Bhushan (Natya Ranga), Aarav must find a way out and rescue his brother before the lad freezes to death. Laying their hands on the bag, though is easier said than done, what with Leona also gunning for its contents.
This is why team Baang wanted Shanvi Srivastava to play a gangster
When the film released in theatres, the reviews were not too favourable, despite decent performances from most of the cast members, especially Shanvi. Interestingly, in an earlier conversation with OTTplay, Shanvi had said that she was initially sceptical about being able to pull off a gangster-chic look, but did it nevertheless, as she saw it as an opportunity to satisfy the creative urges of the actor in her. “ I am not in the zone to play stereotypical heroine roles in commercial films. I’ve not been in that zone for a while; I’d rather do roles that give me creative satisfaction,” she had told us.
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