Post the humongous 2015 success of Rangitaranga, it was not expected of talented filmmaker Anup Bhandari to stumble quickly. He did. And after Rajaratha, he will no doubt become better. Now, he probably understands the importance of idea segregation -- what to keep, what to throw. Rajaratha, his second and long overdue film, would not have had the curiosity factor if not for Anup. Unfortunately, he was unsure, fluctuating between the idea of making a full fledged romantic comedy, or a message themed movie, ending up with a film that does not fall in any of the bracket.
The film about a bus journey comes with its own collection of actors and its character introduction is through the voice of Puneeth Rajkumar. The story revolves around the love drama between Abhi (Nirup Bhandari) and Megha (Avantika Shetty), who are just out of college. Along with them, the film gives scope to the multiple passengers and their reaction to the budding relationship. While it is the heart of this road movie, beyond the journeym is the commotion between a group of activists, who are fighting over an interstate dispute. Among them is Vishwa (Arya) an extremist. The bus gets stranded in between because of a landslide and the passengers are later caught in a riot. How the bus, its passengers interlinked to the riots and Vishwa, and what is the fate of the young couple’s love story takes the film to a message-oriented climax.
Bringing in a host of characters, the film takes a slow pace. There is sense of excitement with Puneeth’s voice adding humour in bits, but the journey becomes inarticulate. Of course, it takes courage to handle issues between states and stitching it with a romantic comedy, Anup miscalculated the formula of balancing the love track and the dispute, both being the crux of the film. Lead actor Nirup Bhandari individually gets a lot of scope to showcase his acting, dance skills and comic timing, but there is ample scope for him to improve.
Avantika Shetty handles her character with a sense of responsibility, not just being relegated to an eye candy. The supporting cast come and go in the story. Arya as the antagonist could have had an expanded role which could have extracted the best out of him. Ravi Shankar leaves a mark with his special song appearance.
Technically, the film stands out and one can see rich production qualities. Willaim David captures some of the most beautiful locations and makes it visually interesting. With all songs well placed in the film, the highlight is the love track, Gandaka Mandaka and Ajaneesh Loknath’s neat background score. Credit should also go to the colourist, BVR Shivakumar.Rajaratha’s journey is bumpy and it is up to you to decide if you enjoy this road trip.
Film: Rajaratha
Director:
Anup Bhandari
Cast: Nirup Bhandari, Avantika Shetty, Arya and Ravi Shankar
Rating: