- Chetan Nadiger
Film: Vrusshabha
Producer: Shobha Kapoor, Ektaa R. Kapoor, C.K. Padma Kumar, Varun Mathur and others
Director: Nandakishore
Starring: Mohan Lal, Samarjith Lankesh, Nayan Sarika, Ragini Dwivedi, Pavana Gowda, Raghu Gowda, Ajay, Neha Saxena and others
A lot of films based on reincarnation have been made in the past. This week’s release ‘Vrusshabha’ is yet another film based on the reincarnation concept. What makes the film apart from the rest is, while most of the previous films were love stories, ‘Vrusshabha’ is a film which has a father-son bonding.
The film revolves around Aadi Deva Varma (Mohanlal), a rich businessman and his son Tej (Samarjith Lankesh). They share a close bond and are more friends than a typical father and son. Aadi starts seeing strange visions from a past life. Later, when Tej visits his family’s ancestral village, he also begins to have similar visions. These strange experiences slowly affect their relationship. The visions hint that both of them lived before and are connected to a powerful curse that has followed them across generations. Can Aadi and Tej can understand these dreams and fix their broken bond forms the crux of the film.
‘Vrusshabha’ is written and directed by well-known Kannada director Nanda Kishore. This is his first outing in other languages as well as pan-Indian cinema. The film has an interesting idea involving rebirth, a family curse and a father-son relationship. Sadly, the film fails to bring these ideas together. A poor screenplay and visual effects hamper the film.
The movie begins by focusing on the father-son bond right from the beginning, it never feels emotional. Apart from the reincarnation and the father-son bonding, there is also a fast-track love story between Tej and Damini (Nayan Sarika) which is not convincing, but also dragging. Even though the movie is of just two hours, it feels longer and slow.
Mohan Lal who has given some excellent performances earlier this year looks exhausted. Despite trying his best, the script offers him little to showcase his performance. Samarjith Lankesh who made his debut with ‘Gowri’ last year shines as Tej. He keeps switching between being an annoying son and an overly dramatic lover. Samarjith definitely makes an effort, but struggles in dialogue delivery. Ragini as Aadi Dev Verma has done her bit. Supporting actors including Pavana Gowda, Raghu Gowda, Ajay and Neha Saxena hardly make an impact. Technically, the film does not make an impact on the audience. The film fails to impress in terms of production value.
‘Vrusshabha’ wastes a promising idea with bad visual effects and weak narration.
