Bannerghatta review - Critical inconsistencies derail the film’s potential

The film opens with plenty of promise which is soon forgotten as it ends with a whimper,

Bannerghatta

Story:

The plot of the film is fairly straightforward. It is told from the perspective of a driver on his journey under the night sky. En route to his destination, he finds out that his sister may have been kidnapped in Bangalore, where she had gone to attend a job interview.

Review:

It wouldn't be fair if the film’s positives are not highlighted first. The opening sequence perfectly sets up the protagonist's arc. It is written with great craft and expertise to establish Ashiq’s character, played by Karthik Ramakrishnan. Within the opening ten minutes the viewers get a fair glimpse of his life, his family, his career, and who he is as a person. This was achieved without the need of an elaborate exposition, instead through phone conversations while he is driving. This particular plot device is becoming increasingly popular after the release of Mahesh Narayanan’s critically acclaimed C U Soon last year. The opening sequences are also well framed and are able to slowly build up to a tense storyline.

However, with each passing sequence of events, the film deviates from what narrative is trying to convey. The eerie and mysterious atmosphere the movie builds up to in the first act is quickly abandoned and shifted to a more grounded and real life issue for the protagonist. This is not a serious concern with regard to the plot, but it makes the whole build up to it redundant - which is disappointing as it was easily the best part of the movie.

While the movie does not completely go off the rails from this point, it could be argued that the writing starts to lose its gleam. Some of Ashiq’s choices in dealing with various obstacles put before him do not merit any logic, and become mere plot armour for the sake of the story. Towards the end of the film, the two-pronged challenge that Ashiq has to deal with could not be smoothly translated into the screen as the screenplay became completely flat - at which point the ending became a little too obvious and the climatic scene became an afterthought.

Verdict:

The story had a lot to offer, but ended with more questions than answers with a few underdeveloped subplots.

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