On the face of it, it’s not that hard putting together a masala film. Start with a fight or two, throw in a song or three, fill the gaps with menacing threats from the baddies and punchy declarations from the hero, and there you go.
The rub is, of course, giving the old formula a novel twist to make it your own. And in “Badmaash”, the latest Kannada action thriller to hit the screens, that’s where things start to fall apart.
Debutant director Akash Srivatsa chooses to take the suspense route for his special ingredient, explaining plot twists after the fact, so that audiences can stay hooked for longer. Unfortunately, the predictable script has little to offer in terms of tight logic and clever plot points, and that makes the story irritating rather than suspenseful.
The storyline has all the necessary elements for a mass action film – there’s a rare diamond more precious than the Kohinoor, a diabolical politician who’ll stop at nothing to become the chief minister of the state, a damsel in distress, and of course, a hero who’s never hesitant to bend the system for what he sees as right.
However, there’s no sense in how the film proceeds, with fights, songs and comic scenes randomly scattered around each other, and the story is constantly in danger of getting tied up in its own knots. If the film had been edited more, and perhaps rearranged better, giving up on the suspense and explaining all the story angles straight out, it might have made for a better film.
Dhananjaya is good at the punch dialogues and action sequences, but could do with more emotion in his other scenes. Sanchita Shetty shows potential in the role of an intimate enemy to the villain that could have made an interesting story by itself. But sadly, the film doesn’t take the time to flesh out her part better. Instead, for much of the film she seems to be appearing in a toothpaste commercial, with the camera focusing excessively on her pearly white smile. Achyuth Kumar and the rest of the cast put in their usual, competent performances.