Banni

A feud leads to murder and imprisonment. Irresponsible behaviour leads to incarceration. There is an uneasy calm in the town because of the murder when a chastened trio land up to find redemption. Sounds familiar? There’s more. There is Kasthuri, the darling of the town, but married off when still a child. The director is trying to convey that hatred and child marriage are bad. However, he succeeds partially on the former, while reducing a feature into a docudrama. The child marriage part causes some derision, not helped by its abrupt appearance in the climax coupled with inexperienced acting.

Banni’s main flaw is that the director’s insistence on keeping things simple robs the plot of its impact with some jerkiness between frames, caused either by an otherwise competent camera or editing. Leo’s compositions may not appeal to all. It is left to Ninasam Ashwath to make the film worthwhile. Indeed, his scenes have life in them. The lead pair is mismatched. Akul is overzealous, while Kasthuri requires a cartload of fuel to thaw. Banni is ages behind the times.