Rating: Two stars (out of five)

Kannada (U/A)

Director: Pradeep Raj

Cast: Dhruv Sharma, Suchendra Prasad, Abhinaya

'Kicchu' literally means 'fire in the belly', meant to signify extreme passion. Despite the passionate title of the film, whether the film in fact has fire in its belly to enthrall audiences and set the audiences thinking is a different question altogether.

Suri (played by the late Dhruv Sharma) is hearing- and speech-impaired but has an unparalleled love for trees and is much loved in his village, which is deep inside a forest.

While protesting against the plans for a resort, which would result in cutting down many trees, Suri's uncle, Muttanna, accidentally kills the man spearheading the project.

Anticipating backlash from the police and to protect Muttanna, the whole of Suri's gang absconds into the forest.

When it becomes extremely difficult for them to live in the dangerous forest, they get a call from naxalite Devanna (Suchendra Prasad) to join his gang, who promises them protection. 

Even though the director's take isn't black and white and he doesn't side with either the naxals or with the state machinery, the film's understanding of social issues is neither deep nor nuanced, but only populist.

Many characters, such as the honest cop (Saikumar) who refuses to kill the naxalites in a fake encounter and the naxalite who wants to smuggle sandalwood, are too predictable. Even the personal life of the protagonist is a cliche.

The plot gets trapped in a mundane cat and mouse game and fails to say anything new or help us understand the issue better. The plot twists are often are manipulative and inorganic.

The director tries to bring in too many things — feudalism, rape threats, deception — but the attempt seems forced, whereas many of the slow motion sequences are out of context and are only there to jerk out emotions.

Sudeep appears in a cameo role only to make preachy statements.

The shots of the lush forests and the music, however, provide some value.

Even with good intentions, Kicchu is dull, cliched and too flat on emotions.