Film: Vikrant Rona

Producer: Jack Manjunath

Director: Anup Bhandari

Starring: Sudeep, Jacquline Fernandes, Nirup Bhandari, Neetha Ashok, Ravishankar Gowda and others

Stars: 2.5

Sudeep starrer ‘Vikrant Rona’ was one of the most anticipated films of Sandalwood this year. Though the film is quite different for the lead actor, the film is not new to the audience and turns a disappointing affair for them.

‘Vikrant Rona’ starts off with mysterious murders happening in the dense forests of Kamorattu in Dakshina Kannada. The Inspector who is in charge is found dead in a well. That’s when an Inspector called Vikrant Rona (Sudeep) along with his daughter comes to the village. How does the Inspector put an end to all the mysterious happenings around the place forms the crux of the film.

The film looks to be another version of Anup Bhandari’s debut film ‘Rangitharanga’ which was released in 2015. Though both the films do not have any direct connections, both films have some comparisons which are inevitable. Both are set in a mysterious place called Kamorottu. There the bodies of pregnant are found hanging on trees, while here the bodies of small children are found hanging on trees. In simple, ‘Vikrant Rona’ is another film from the Kamorattu Universe.

The main problem with the film is, it doesn’t connect to the audience at any given point of time. Though lot of things happen over the place, from the beginning the audience doesn’t connect with the film. There is no emotional connect which can get the audience glued to the film. The film starts as a murder mystery. Slowly Anup adds horror elements to the film. To add more confusion, Anup adds more characters and deaths which the audience can’t remember. Slowly, more issues like smuggling, superstitions, caste system crop up and confuse the audience. There are a lot of loopholes in the film, which makes it further difficult to watch.

The first half of the film has nothing much to offer except for the character introductions. There is a big twist during the interval part of the film. The second part is also snow paced like the first half and has nothing to entertain the audience. Anup tries to blend some commercial elements, but fails in his attempt. He could have worked more on the screenplay part as it has a lot of loopholes.

If you are a fan of Sudeep, then it’s strictly no because Sudeep till now is known an as a commercial hero. If you expect commercial songs, fights, buildups and punchy dialogues then the film disappoints to the core. Because, there is nothing such for Sudeep and he is just an actor in this story. Sudeep plays his role with discipline and stands apart.

Apart from Sudeep, the highlights of the film are however the technical aspects including the cinematography, art work, VFX, background music and others. The film is a visual spectacle from the beginning to the end. The efforts of all the technicians including cinematographer William David, art director Shivakumar, music director Ajaneesh Lokanath and others are wasted.