'Banaras' movie review: Zaid Khan debuts in a flawed yet engaging suspense drama

Banaras

Kannada (Theatres)

Director: Jayathirtha

Cast: Zaid Khan, Sonal Monteiro, Sujay Shastry, Achyuth Kumar, Devaraj

Rating: 3/5 stars

These days, a film that keeps the audience engaged till the end, despite flaws, is treated a success.

Jayathirtha’s Banaras, introducing Zaid Khan, does have flaws; it lacks nuances. However the flick keeps the audience engaged till the end thanks to its concept.

Strictly speaking, it is not a time travel film. The romance drama is developed on psychoanalysis and stream of consciousness elements. It partially has shadows of 2014 Hollywood film ‘Interstellar’.

Redemption, a principle of Hindu belief, is the core of the film, and hence Jayathirtha sets the story in Banaras, one of the oldest and holy cities of the world. Combination of psychological and spiritual factors blend perfectly to offer a decent cinematic experience.

The story revolves around Siddarth (Zaid), a casual BSc final year student in Bengaluru. He accepts a challenge to win the heart of a college student and budding singer Dhani (Sonal Monteiro). Using a time travel story, he succeeds and shares evidence with his close friends, without even thinking about consequences of his action. Many start assassinating Dhani’s character as Siddarth’s friend discloses the evidence to the world.

A shattered Dhani joins her uncle in Banaras, deciding to discontinue her education. Haunted by guilt, Siddarth sets out in search of Dhani to offer an apology. Rest of the story leads to an interesting and intense climax.

The first half establishes the characters and the backdrop effectively. But the director drags the story by forcing an unwanted song and an action sequence. With turns and twists in the second half, the intensity reaches its peak before climax. However (spoiler alert), it fails to deliver the desired effect as the theory of time travel is revealed to be cooked up for a mere experiment of a Chemistry professor, a Nobel Prize aspirant.

Despite 95 per cent of the action taking place in Banaras, the filmmaker fails to capture the city’s relevance for guilt-stricken souls, as he focuses only on picturesque locations.

A popular North Karnataka folk song appears to be unnatural despite its melodious tune. Errors in lip sync are glaring. A party abroad and an intelligent student buying time travel tale defy logic.

Zaid, undoubtedly, is a new find for Sandalwood. He is impressive but needs to address shortcomings like expressing emotions. Sonal comfortably slips into Dhani’s character. Sujay, Achyuth Kumar and Devaraj also deliver.

Ajaneesh Loknath and Advaitha Gurumurthy deserve appreciation for music and cinematography respectively.