Bakasuran Review - Outdated Cringe Fest!

Ashwin Ram

Bakasuran is a Selvaraghavan and Natty starrer crime drama. The film is directed by Mohan. G of Draupati and Rudra Thandavam fame.

Premise

Selvaraghavan is brutally killing people on one side and Natty is investigating a suicide case on the other. Both the tracks collide at a point and what happens after that forms the remaining story.

Writing/ Direction

Mohan. G is known for touching sensitive topics within the story, this film is no exception for that. He has tried to convey a message about women safety with a two layer coating, one is via prostitution and another one through misuse of smartphones. Unfortunately, both the routes are lethargically handled with an age-old screenplay. The seriousness exists only in the outline but nowhere on the substance. The flow is so straightforward and predictable, anyone could easily guess what is coming next. The revenge angle isn't exciting as the characters and the pain they went through are shown in a detailed flashback but failed to land strongly. Most of the sequences are empty with no interesting elements to engage. The already boring scenes are very much long-drawn-out. Very few witty dialogues which the protagonist utters in unexpected situations are enjoyable. Otherwise, a messy flick all the way as the screenwriting and direction style are so amateurish.

Performances

Feels like Selvaraghavan will fit for roles in which he can stay stone-faced. His dialogue delivery is decent, but his performance is underwhelming and he couldn’t exhibit the graceful body language which his character demands. Natty does a harmless job in the ample screen time he has got. The supporting artists are poorly casted, keeping aside a few, we get to see a lot of exaggerated performances.

Technicalities

Technically it’s much better than Mohan. G’s previous ventures. The songs are truthful to the situations, nothing much to blame with respect to the background score too. Neat camera work as the quality is overall good, also the DI is done well although there are not many variations. Editing is weak as the film is lagging in most of the places, even the simplest of points are told in a lengthy manner. Stunt choreography is fine as the approach is realistic, but the way it is presented with high-speed shots is a poor decision.

Bottomline

A sensitive topic which could have been much more as a film, but settles on the ground level due to a flat screenplay. The approach is extremely preachy as the done and dusted messages are thrown directly to our faces which makes it worse.

Rating - 2/ 5