Movie: Bangalore Naatkal
Direction: Bommarillu Bhaskar
Cast: Arya, Sri Divya, Bobby Simha, Rana Daggubati, Parvathy, Raai Laxmi, Samantha
Music: Gopi Sunder
Cinematographer: K V Guhan
Editor: Marthand K Venkatesh
Genre: Comdey, Drama
Rating: ∗∗½
What is it about: It’s a story of 3 cousins, who grew up together as friends with a common dream of spending their lives together no matter which way the destiny takes them. This is also an official remake of the Malayalam blockbuster “Bangalore Days”. Tamil remake is directed by Bomarillu Bhaskar.
Why it’s disappointing: Sometimes it’s a good thing to avoid remakes, which might not relate to the audience once again. Still our filmmakers can’t let that go, may be due to fact they are running out of ideas to make an original. This remake falls short on characterization. Which in fact was the most important thing the makers should have concentrated on, rather spending on technical beauty and promotions.
There’s nothing to complaint on the story, because it has no faults due to one main reason of this being a Xerox copy of the original. That includes even the dialogues and funny moments. Few sequences were created keeping their audience in mind, but Kollywood makers followed the same which the audience couldn’t really relate down here.
Sri Divya is a good actress, not the one we can count among the best, but till date the roles laid in front of her have suited her. But this one doesn’t stick, as she was asked to imitate Nazriya. That factor failed her performance and made it plastic, which makes you say Sri Divya is cute but not “Nazriya Cute”.
This was followed by the character of Bobby Simha, a brilliant actor who was thrown under bus to imitate the original character, making him look like an underperformer. He did not suit the role nor the attire. May be if they had let him play his style, it could have been a better approach.
The mismatch was closely followed by Raai Laxmi, the role is a small one but it brings a difference in one of the lead character’s life and she did not suit the attire too.
The music was a great addition to the original, but for some reason that magic was not seen in Tamil.
What to watch out for: The saving grace of the film was Rana Dagubbati, his character was the only one which went with the original. He did a great job and played it well. He does not give you a chance for disappointment.
His performance was closely followed by Arya, who managed to pull of Dulquer with his style. Even though few things were replicated but his charm deviates the replication.
Apart from the lead characters the role of Prakash Raj and Saranya Ponvannan were the best, who carried off their respective role with grat diligence.
The cinematography by Guhan was brilliant, which manages to shadow the blemishes created by the characters in the film, which was edited meticulously by Marthand Venkatesh.
Verdict: Bomarillu Bhaskar did a good job in filmmaking, but loses the most in characterization. People who have seen the original can’t help but compare, but there is a big chunk of audience who have not seen it. They will enjoy this with no complaints.
