'Vikrant Rona', produced by Jack Manjunath and Shalini Manjunath, was released in theatres today. In this section, we are going to review the latest box-office release.
Story:
The film is set in a fictional town sometime decades ago when a litre of petrol used to cost Rs 6, much to the chagrin of the public. In a remote hamlet in the middle of a dense rainforest, mysterious events attributable to the supernatural take place. Evil forces, nicknamed Brahma Rakshasas, are killing kids one after one. In comes a cop named Vikrant Rona (Kichcha Sudeep), who has to investigate the inexplicable killings.
Meanwhile, an anguished old woman is waiting for the return of her missing son for decades. A high-profile burglary and a pained set of characters are also at the centre of the plot. How these threads are tied together, and who is killing the kids form the crux of the story.
Analysis:
'Vikrant Rona' is undoubtedly one of the most ambitious flicks to have come from Sandalwood. Given that the film is the Kannada film industry's wannabe pan-India hit, the film's stunts should have been outstanding. Stunt master A Vijay, however, fails to fit the action into the world of the action-adventure fantasy that director Anup Bhandari creates. Jani's dance choreography brims with energy, while the fights lack vigour.
The performances are able, although the off-putting dubbing in Telugu takes the zing out of them. Nirup Bhandari as Gambhira, Neetha Ashok as Aparna Ballal and Jacqueline Fernandez as an 'item' girl don't add any value. Barring the last of these, the rest of the cast (including Ravishankar Gowda, Madhusudan Rao, Vasuki Vaibhav, Chitkala Biradar) uniformly look dull in terms of performance.
B Ajaneesh Loknath has taken care of both music and background music, and the result is good if not rousing. 'Ra Ra Rakkamma', powered by the singing talents Mangli and Nakash Aziz, is superb. 'Hey Fakira' is outdone by the 'Gumma Banda Gumma Theme', nicknamed The Devil's Fury. William David's cinematography is distinctive. The Production Design by Shiva Kumar J is impressive, although, after a point, nothing much holds your attention because the aesthetics start looking dull. Editor Ashik Kusugolli has shown promise in making the plotting look deep, while it is not. Neetha Shetty's costumes are elementary. VFX Supervision by Nirmal Kumar is on the plus side.
This film clearly needed substance over style, especially in the second half. Much as mystique and swag are sought to be built around Vikrant Rona, the writing fails to make the grade.
The father-daughter sentiment is milked in the second half, while the mother-missing son track could have avoided cliches.
Sudeepa is known as the 'Baadshah' of Sandalwood, and his sincere performance and swag are the film's biggest merits. His introduction happens 20 minutes after the film begins, and once he enters the screen, there is no looking back as far as he is concerned. Even where the script fails to uplift his character, Sudeepa shoulders all the responsibility.
Verdict:
In narrating a comic book style of a tale, 'Vikrant Rona' sometimes punches above its weight. The story is strictly average, and the scenes don't ooze imagination at crucial junctures.
