‘Head Bush’ movie review: Dhananjaya shines in a promising but caricaturish gangster drama

Who doesn’t love a gangster drama that unveils a bloody legal underworld which is elusive to commoners? Indian cinema has seen many biopics or fictionalised retellings about underworld personalities, with some glorifying the topic and others taking a extra goal take a look at their lives. Nonetheless, the intention of the makers is to current the human aspect of the character.

Within the Kannada movie business, it was Om, an iconic film directed by Upendra, that ushered within the style of the full-fledged underworld mafia in 1995. Later, many Kannada movies adopted in its footsteps and protagonists brandishing machetes has grow to be a typical, profitable method for filmmakers. Although over a 100 such movies have been made within the final 25 years, just a few like Jogi, Aa Dinagalu, Edegarike, and Kariya are noteworthy. A lot of the Kannada movies on this style have glorified anti-social gangsters, paving the best way for an unhealthy society.

Director Shoonya’s Head Bush is the newest launch within the style, and even the intriguing title has a degree to make. It’s an supposed wordplay on the favored coin-flipping recreation of ‘Head or Tails’; standard star V Ravichandran seems as a professor to elucidate this idea.

Head Bush relies on Dadagiriya Dinagalu, a memoir of former underworld don Agni Sreedhar. The movie explores Bengaluru’s legal underworld within the ‘70s, and centres on the lifetime of M P Jayaraj, a famous don and Robin Hood-like determine who loved political patronage, moreover monumental public help. Although marketed as an underworld topic, Head Bush can also be an intriguing political thriller.

The movie opens with the then-Chief Minister, Devaraj Urs, forming the Indira Brigade to assist oppressed communities, following the course of his mentor, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. We’re then launched to Jayaraj as a younger, violent boy who assaults a policeman. A lot of the primary half of the movie is supposed to introduce characters equivalent to Devaraj, his son-in-law M D Nataraj, his daughter Nagaratna (named Rathnaprabha within the movie), distinguished politicians like R Gundu Rao, F M Khan, Jayaraj and his lieutenant Ganga, and Samson amongst others.

Head Bush takes a significant flip when variations crop up between Ganga and Jayaraj over the Karaga controversy, and Kotval Ramachanda, one other clever underworld don who enjoys the help of Khan and Rao, enters the scene. Urs’ bold concept of the Indira Brigade takes a nostril dive with the gang struggle between Ganga and Jayaraj, which ends with Jayaraj and his associates surrendering to the police, after an assault on Ganga within the court docket corridor in broad daylight.

It seems, due to Sridhar’s initiative, the movie showcases the key developments in Bengaluru between 1974 and the early 80s, as an alternative of changing into a secular tackle simply gangsters. It focuses on how a metropolis shouldn’t be constructed by politicians and officers alone, however by the widespread individuals, together with distinguished underworld characters. A bit extra of a nudge, and Head Bush might need grow to be a documentary. However the efficient retelling of info with the inventive freedom exercised by the author and the director, has resulted within the movie changing into tolerable as an underworld movie. It makes the viewers perceive what ailed Bengaluru at that time limit.

Exposing the underbelly of Bengaluru, it has political parts of betrayal, friendship, and love written from numerous views. However, sadly, it seems to glorify Dhananjaya as Jayaraj, and several other different characters stay as caricatures with out flesh and blood.

As a result of Agni Shridhar wrote the story, it’s virtually essential to check Head Bush with Aa Dinagalu, which was additionally written by him. Nonetheless, the previous is nowhere near the latter. Whereas Aa Dinagalu was virtually a private movie made on a small canvas, Head Bush is mounted on an even bigger scale and the author has tailored his writing to match the size of the movie with a stylised remedy. However director Shoonya fails to seize the creativeness and visible concepts, and neither the incidents (besides the Karaga episode) nor the characters create any impression on the viewers.

Nonetheless, Head Bush is a deal with for followers of Dhananjaya, because the star justifies his position together with his signature model of performing. Actors Raghu Mukherjee and Shruthi Hariharan additionally meet the expectations of the viewers on a sure degree. Raghu, particularly, fills life into his character, due to his homework on the seems to be and physique language of M D Nataraj.

Shruthi Hariharan essays the position of his spouse Rathnaprabha (the character of Devaraj Urs’ daughter Nagarathna), who was an idealistic and righteous lady. Rathnaprabha is somebody who believes in equality and walks the discuss. Although she seems to be susceptible, she is robust and courageous. Shruthi carries the burden of such a multi-faced character with the best problem. Payal Malhotra additionally completely matches into the character of Jayaraj’s love curiosity.

Whereas the movie fails to move the viewers to the ‘70s Bengaluru — the blame of which ought to go to the director, artwork director, and cinematographer — you will need to do not forget that that is solely the primary of two components. In the event that they proper their wrongs from this movie, Head Bush 2 may change into pretty much as good as an Aa Dinagalu.

Head Bush is at present operating in theatres