'Jagath Khiladi' movie review: Not intelligent enough to fool the audience
Film: Jagath Khiladi
Director: Arav B Dheerendra
Cast: Niranjana Kumar Shetty, Ameeta Kulal, Rangayana Raghu and Suchendra Prasad
Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
Debutant director Arav B Dheerendra did not have much to aspire when he took up the effort of remaking Sathuranga Vettai, the 2014 Tamil-language hit heist-thriller written and directed by debutant H Vinoth. But that seems to be the problem with Jagath Khiladi. When there is drought of aspirations, the result is artistic melancholy.
And when that happens, suffocated creativity can be of great pain to any artiste. So, till the time Arav finds his own aspirations, in all probability he will have to suffer the agony of Jagath Khiladi.
A story about an intelligent conman Sathyamurthy (NiranjanaKumar) who only desires is to make money by hook or by crook and succeeds on many occasions, the film takes a twist due to a situation when he has to decide between happiness and money, ending with a choice that makes for a moral end.
While the original was well-crafted, full credit going to the writer, H Vinoth, director Arav, even though staying loyal to the original, fails miserably to recreate the magic. The various episodes of fraud seem silly, repeated and overdone. As for actors, NiranjanaKumar, he does not make for the right choice. His look or acting is never convincing for the character of an intelligent conman. Senior actors like Ranagayana Raghu and Suchendra Prasad are overdramatic. Comic scenes only irritate.
The heroine, Ameeta Kulal, comes as a pleasant breeze, and threads the story in the second half. Ravi Chethan, who plays a friend to the hero, does not stand out with his brief appearance. The only lasting appealing factor of the film is its background score, which goes well with the film’s story, although there are not many songs. Nothing applaudable about the cinematography.
Jagath Khiladi is nothing close to the original nor attempts to stand out. This clever plot just fails to fool the Kannada audience.