Remakes are always a nervous feeling, to the entire team (both original and the remake), to the producers and more importantly to the fan who is obsessed by the original’s magic. Tamil and Malayalam go side by side like good friends and with a film which has already made waves not just Kerala but pretty comprehensively in TN too, the expectations is definitely on the edge. The simple story of three cousins of different traits and personalities get together in Bangalore, the emotional journey sums up "Bangalore Naatkal". With a whale of a cast, only Parvathy Menon has been retained from the original, so let’s find out how BN is.
The essence of Bangalore Days lies in the cast and their down to earth performances, the acting and the screenplay flowed naturally without much fret and fiasco. Now let’s forget Bangalore days for a moment and look at Bangalore Naatkal, has a talented cast, a vibrant music composer and a director who took emotional movies like "Bommarilu", so the ingredients are just in front of you, what’s left is a tasty recipe. Three cousins; Arya, Bobby Simha and Sri Divya end up together in the Silicon city of Bangalore with lots of expectation. The key to BN remains in characterization, with such a huge cast it’s important to get the actors into the skin of the character and Bhaskar takes inspiration from the original to shape the characters.
Bobby Simha is like the "Pazham Geeky shy" guy who rather lives a simple life of a software engineer, gets trolled by his cousin Arya who is quite the opposite; a dashing suave urban Biker and the actor himself has said that the character is quite close to what he is in real life. Sri Divya is the lovely girl who frees herself when her rather dull and troubled husband Rana Daggubati leaves town. And then there is Parvathy Menon in a completely different avatar, chirpy yet strong in her grit in love with Arya. The list doesn’t end here; Saranya and Prakash Raj two of the best character artists in perhaps south India are right on the money.
When Baskar made Bommarilu, it was a manifest of simple relationships which gets into the web of complications; BN too in a way is about relationships and the easy way to resolve tensions. It takes some time to digest Rana after his performance in Baahubali as Bhalladeva, but soon enough the actor puts up with a neat performance of a husband who lives a life out of the past. Likewise Saranya who is stereotyped as the caring mother is seen in a completely different avatar, and same can be said of Prakash Raj; the hospital scene is enough to prove the actor’s prowess. Yet another delightful performance comes from the talented Parvathy Menon, she is back and displays the exact synergy as in the original. Likewise Samantha in her small cameo bursts opens a can of energy in the limited timeframe.
The three lead characters form the key in BN, Arya probably is his own self in the movie. Playing a carefree biker with nothing to lose, trolls over his cousin’s falls in love unusually and his energetic screen presence is simply awesomeness. Bobby Simha takes Nivin’s character and tries to do justice with the space given. Somehow he looks rather misfit for this role, might be because the actor is seen more often in rugged than soft spoken roles, but doesn’t seem to click right. As for Sri Divya, her characterization is a little artificial and her usual bubbliness seems to be in a rather forced way, but on a whole looks alright.
Bangalore naatkal is a honest attempt by Baskar to revive the magic of the Malayalam film, the director doesn’t change much from the original and tries to retain the essence of relationships and the emotional connect. Cinematography is another big plus; Guhan keeps the movie youthful and complete in sync with the urban era. There are few flaws in the film like the music, apart from the songs the BGM is plain and straightforward might miss connecting to the locals, the lengthy screenplay and some shady performances by the lead cast are a few letdowns.
On a whole; Bangalore days is fresh, youthful and certainly a good one time watch with family for its entertainment quotient is spot on. You are sure to enjoy with friends or family.
Verdict : Rana, Arya, Saranya and Parvathy make Bangalore Naatkal a delightful watch.
