JOIN USBengaluru Underworld
Kannada (A) **
Cast: Adityaa, Paayal Radhakrishna, Daniel Balaji, Shobraj, Rajhvardhan, Shobraj, Bhavana, Vinaya Prasad, Ramesh Bhat
Direction: P N Satyaa
Seasoned director Satyaa revisits the familiar world of rowdies and their violent ways. Though the subject is same, his scripting makes the difference in Bengaluru Underworld.
Eschewing familiar expectations, Satyaa ensures that Bengaluru Underworld has a novel narrative. Actor Adityaa, who caught the audience’s fancy with his subdued portrayal in Sumana Kittur’s Edegarike, does it again with an understated performance where his eyes do most of the talking.
Bengaluru Underworld is not free of cliches. The film probes the psyche of a man on a murderous mission. Some subtlety could have rendered it more engaging. Still, the film which spotlights on Maalik who heads to Bengaluru from Ballari to reign the underworld, is watchable, with an evocative background score by Anoop Seelian.
Maalik — seeking vengeance against the corrupt cops and baddies responsible for his near one’s death — meets Sirisha, which forms the film’s non-intrusive romantic track.
Worming himself into the good books of don Acid Babu, Maalik goes about his task with missionary zeal, the reason for which is revealed through flashback. However, as goes the adage ‘violence begets violence’, Maalik meets his nemesis the same way when he is felled by his confidante, even as he harbours dreams of migrating to Mumbai to lead a life of peace with Sirisha.
Satyaa covers gang wars, conspiracies, deceit and deception, corrupt cops et al, as he explores the seamy underbelly of Silicon City in Bengaluru Underworld through Maalik.