Solid: Rajasekhar, Aathmeeya Rajan, Muskaan Khubchandani, Shivani Rajashekar
Director: Jeevitha Rajashekhar
Earlier than watching Shekar, I felt awkward reviewing it. The movie is a remake of the Malayalam unique Joseph, directed by M Padmakumar, starring Joju George. I noticed Joseph in 2018 when it was closely praised by critics and informal movie audiences alike. However I didn’t take pleasure in that movie. At finest, it was like a movie model of boiled broccoli in that it’s speculated to be good viewing however felt bland, and at worst, it felt just like the angst of a slam poet pretending to be lots deeper than he truly is.
It doesn’t assist Shekar that it’s too trustworthy a remake of its unique.
Shekar is about its titular character performed by Rajashekar, a brooding policeman who offers with the loss of life of three ladies he loves. He continues to waste his life and detective-like mind ingesting and smoking till he will get an opportunity at redemption when he discovers that the deaths have been in actual fact murders. Can he use his powers to seek out the murderers? Did he contribute in any strategy to their murders? Does he redeem himself?
At first, Shekar appears to be a self-aware remake and the primary fifteen minutes should not solely gripping but additionally a hat tip to its main man and the director. The movie is directed by Rajashekar’s spouse Jeevita Rajashekhar and each of them have been a smash hit pair within the 80s and early 90s. In truth, Rajashekar was identified to play roles that ranged from offended younger man to offended younger cop to offended younger brute and Jeevita would play characters that tame the person. It was a success components and it contributed to massive numbers on the field workplace. To start with of the movie, Shekar is listening to ‘Idi Cheragani Premaku‘ from Ankusham, the largest hit starring Rajashekar and Jeevita.
I applauded this little meta contact and anticipated extra such cleverness from the director.
I additionally anticipated the movie to discover the character’s further meta-baggage as a result of Shekar, the weary and cynical cop, might be an extension of the offended younger cops performed by its main man. Rajashekar as soon as loved stardom much like Chiranjeevi within the 80s and 90s however now it’s fully waned and he’s a shell of the star he as soon as was. A personality like this can be a excellent metaphor of that lower in recognition and field workplace pull – the physique is frail, the beard and hair are whiter, and the trademark power within the gait is now decreased. Even Sai Kumar appears to have hit the proper melancholic notice whereas dubbing for the movie’s main man.
However sadly, previous the primary fifteen minutes, Shekar runs out of freshness and sticks to not simply the beats however even a number of the photographs and frames from the unique. Whereas the unique consisted of lengthy uninterrupted photographs, right here we get extra cuts and lesser time to imbibe the efficiency. Rajashekar himself appears extra snug with the pathos than the parts involving Sherlock-esque intelligence. The movie rushes to inform its two love tales that make Shekar a gray character who appears to have strayed from the trail his ethical compass was pointing him in the direction of. The issue was there within the unique and it lies on this one too. The best way we study what broke the person looks like an data dump moderately than one thing we dwell with and really feel heartbreak about. Equally, the climax which has the massive reveal looks like a sermon in a star-driven social message movie than a satisfying conclusion to a effectively made thriller as a result of it looks like data thrown on the viewers as a lecture in warning moderately than as dialogue meant to interact.
This movie too is determined by “aha”-moments the place the main man has solved the case already and we’re two steps behind him, ready for him to clarify the case to us like an impatient trainer. Abhinav Gomatham’s Sudhir, who’s the pc knowledgeable, will get to do all of the tech dump however it’s to the actor’s credit score that the exposition appears partially lighter along with his efficiency and supply. Equally, Shivani Rajashekar impresses in a well-conceived however poorly executed character. Her character Geeta is the one massive departure from the unique the place she turns into the fulcrum upon which we study the Shekar’s previous. Whereas she is great at promoting the bubbly and the lovable character, her character’s destiny by no means feels as tragic because the Anup Rueben’s rating makes it out to be.
Rajashekar appears to be taking the suitable steps to reinvent himself for a brand new era. Whether or not it was the spectacular tech-thriller PSV Garuda Vega, or the courageous however underwhelming motion thriller Kalki or the mediocre Shekar. It’s significantly spectacular that in Shekar director Jeevita didn’t change the ending of the movie or what Indu (Athmika Rajan) chooses to do after leaving Shekar. However this movie, regardless of its earnest efforts, wanted extra bravery at a conceptual stage.
For now, we are able to take into account it a hit {that a} star from the 90s is lastly enjoying his age and taking some courageous steps and hope that he isn’t the final.
