Film Review: Banaras

-
Banaras ( Kannada film dubbed in Tamil and also in Hindi, Malyalam and Telugu) released in theatres on Nov.4th starring Zaid Khan and Sonal Monteiro, directed by Jaya Thirtha and produced by Tilakraj Ballal.
Cast:
 Zaid Khan as Sidharth Simha
 Sonal Monteiro as Dhani
 Sujay Shastry as Shambu
 Achyuth Kumar as Narayan Shastry
 Barkath Ali as Peter Jakson

 Crew
 Writer and Director - Jayatheertha
 Cinematographer - Advaitha Gurumurthy
 Editor - KM Prakash
 Music - B Ajaneesh Loknath
 Production - NK Productions
 Producers - nlakraj Ballal & Muzammil Ahmed Khan
 Tamilnadu Release - Sakthivelan B - Sakthi Film Factory
 PRO Yuvraaj

The film centres around a youngster Siddharth ( Zaid Khan) who plays a prank on a student, Dhani (Sonal) in order to win a bet with friends. However, when that prank affects her life, Sidharth realises his mistake and does his best to remedy the situation by saying sorry. This endeavour lands him in the holy city of Banaras where the girl lives with her uncle and aunt. But strange events begin to happen and Siddharth struggles to find a solution. Does he succeed? Does love conquer all?
The highlight of the film is the cinematography by Adaitha Gurumurthy which captures Banaras in all its glory and divinity making the city one of the characters in the film. 
The talented and handsome Zaid Khan looks the part of the prankster and later the earnest youth seeking forgiveness. He brings a freshness to the character and also shines in the action sequences.
Sonal as the student and  singer Dhani  brings out the angst of the  character very well. 

The melodious  songs are shot on a grand scale and Ajaneesh's bgm adds to the story.
The twists are well handled, keeping up The momentum in the story with solid cuts by editor KM Prakash.
However, a tad  too much time seems to have been spent in the the lesisurely- paced first half, with the second half galloping towards the climax rapidly. 
The beauty, vastness, mystery and ancient feel of the city of Banaras, the ghats and the sacred Ganges are well presented, and captured, justifying  the title and transport the viewer to the city in an immersive experience. Kudos to the team for that

The film is a mysterious love story with dollops of humor, rich production values, lavish and scenic  visuals, stunts, twists and emotions, making it a clean family entertainer with a novel storyline.

Rating 3.5 /5

Popular posts from this blog

Movie Review : Mathimaran

-
Image
 Cast: Venkat Senguttuvan - Nedumaran Ivana - Mathi Aradhya - Prabhavathy MS Baskar - sundharam Aadukalam narein - kattabomman Bava chelladurai - karuppasamy Sudharsan Govind- Sudharsan Praveen Kumar - Chandran manickam   Crew: Director - Mantra Veerapandian  Music : Karthik Raja DOP : Parvez Editor : Sathish Suriya Banner - GS Cinema international Producers - Gs cinema international Release - Poppins studio Pro - Yuvraaj  The story revolves around the life of Nedumaran ( Venkat Senguttavan) and his twin sister Mathi ( Ivana). Their father  ( MS Bhasker) is a postman in the village.  He loves both the kids equally. Nedumaran has to face a lot of name calling and jokes due to his  height being affected by dwarfism, but somehow with the help of his twin, he gets past it, giving it back to people who make fun of him.  One day however, the family's world comes crashing down when Mathi elopes with her professor. The parents commit suicide. Left alone, Maran somehow vows to
Read more

Movie Review: Maal

-
Image
  “ Maal” Movie artist and technician list   Cast : Gajaraj as Gajaraj Asraf as Kathir Dinesh kumaran as Philips Saikarthi as Karna Gowri nandha as Yazhini Vj pappu as Gowtham Jey as Jey Technicians : Produced by Kovai film mates SHIVARAJ R SAIKARTHI cinematography & Editing - Shivaraj R Direction - Dinesh kumaran Music - PATHMAYAN SIVANANDHAM Pro - SureshSugu & DharmaDurai Tamil movie Maal, to release on Aha Tamil ott, is about ancient  idols trafficking. The film has interesting parallel tracks of several sets of characters, whose lives intermingle due to a particular Chola idol, an antique worth crores. A group wants to sell this idol and make money. They outsource the transport to another gang due to extensive police pressure, with a special task force on thier heels. But the second gang loses the idol. In the meantime, a cop finds the idol by accident and gets greedy to sell it.  But this time, a set of two youngsters manage to lay their hands on it! And in the midst of t
Read more

Music Director Vidyasagar’s son Harsha Vardhan U makes musical debut in Sibi film!

-
Image
  Actor Sibi Sathyaraj has continuously delivered excellent hits and has registered a prodigious reach in trade circles. Courtesy of his choice of unique content-driven movies and his sheer involvement: They have attributed to the success of movies among general audiences and critics. While his line-ups look so much promising, here comes the announcement of his new project. This is 20th movie of Sibi Sathyaraj. It is produced by IB Karthikeyan of Big Print Pictures and is directed by debutant Pandiyan Adhimoolam. The movie has a theme with universal content that will let audiences connect with it beyond the linguistic factors. The movie emphasizes in family emotions during first half followed by the second half involving action thriller factors with a cat and mouse game between the protagonist and antagonist. The movie has a great attraction as it marks the Music Directorial debut of Harsha Vardhan U, son of reputed music director Vidyasagar. Music director Harsha Vardhan U says, “I ha
Read more