A little magic and twisted patriotism

The film’s title is interesting and the director begins well, with little understanding of certain basic stuff. Perhaps the slur on media was intentional. Beyond that he tells the story of a college guy (Yogesh) keen to serve dreaded don Matsyendranath Poonja (Atul Kulkarni) and rise in the underworld. The don loses his rivals and confidants one by one but realises something is wrong, a bit late... Films like Drohkaal, Chal and several others have all glorified the advantages of infiltrating the enemy lair and Yaksha is no different. With a cast boasting of pedigree names like Master Hirannaiah, Atul Kulkarni and Nana Patekar,Yaksha promises a feast of sorts.

Indeed, the styling, the set design, costumes, innovative choreography and tidy cinematography all make up a yummy desert with Anup Seelin’s zabardast music the icing on the cake. Yogesh and heroine Ruby Parihar (who physically resembles a prop) both will make Prabhudeva proud, despite zero chemistry between them.

But Ramesh is unable to extract the best from Nana, Atul and Master Hirannaiah - actors with awesome talent.The Krantiveer dialogue has no place to be in Yaksha. Yet, their dialogue delivery is most certainly better than Jackie Shroff’s in Zamana! Also, Komal’s ‘double’ role is left unexplained. Yaksha stands out for having its heart in the right place, but just.