Darshan shines in this 'Baashha'-like revenge saga

'Roberrt'

Kannada

Director: Tharun Sudhir

Cast: Darshan, Asha Bhat, Jason D Souza, Ravi Shanker, Jagapathi Babu

Rating: 3/5

A gangster hangs up his boots and decides to be a peace-loving man. He drives an autorickshaw for a living. At one point, the past haunts him and he unleashes beast mode to destroy the baddies. Now, you know which movie I am talking about.

The origin of ‘Baashha’ was on the sets of ‘Hum’, when the Superstar was impressed by a scene that wasn’t used in the Hindi crime-drama. Rohit Shetty’s mediocre ‘Dilwale’ is said to be a mixture of ‘Hum’ and ‘Baashha’. The bottom line is that in commercial cinema, what matters is how you treat the already-used template.

In this context, despite flaws, Tharun Sudhir’s ‘Roberrt’ is a winner. In his sophomore flick, the director has shown his flair for ‘masala’ films set on huge-canvas. But what is more important is that Tharun has completely tapped Darshan’s strength as a ‘star-actor’ and also extended his range as a performer.

The hero-introduction scene is a big indication that you aren’t in for a routine ‘star-vehicle’ (spoilter alert!). The build-up is perfect for the scene but it’s the child actor Jason D Souza who first pops up on the screen and then the hero is unveiled. There is no hurry in anything and that’s a relief.

As a timid man who hates violence, Darshan is convincing. Again, we know like dust gathering, this image of him will be wiped off soon to unveil his ‘real’ face. The momentum to the reveal is breezy. And the set-piece that turns Raghava into Roberrt is really worth the whistles.

Tharun hasn’t undermined supporting characters. ‘Roberrt’ has three villains (Ravi Kishan, Jagapathi Babu and Ravi Shankar) and all three are top-notch and gladly not over the top. The comedy isn’t a cringe-fest. In fact, some though has gone behind creating Chikkanna’s character. This shows how good writing can enhance performances. The over use of metaphors in dialogues is quite fun.

‘Roberrt’ isn’t perfect. The story’s predictability apart, the lack of a character-arch for the heroine is a let-down. Couple of scenes are blatantly inspired from Vetrimaaran’s ‘Vada Chennai’ (2018) and Shankar’s ‘Anniyan’ (2005).

The grandiose in songs deserves appreciation. All three are pleasing-to-the-eye though the placement of the foot-tapping ‘Baby Dance Floor Ready’ is off the mark. The action-choreography is too exaggerated for its own good.

Very often, we have seen Darshan saving the sinking ship. In this case, he owns ‘Roberrt’. His towering screen presence hadn’t received its due for a while. In the flashback, he fuses stylish body language and controlled dialogue-delivery to give organic ‘mass moments’. The swagger, close-ups, the slow-motions and elevation scenes appear fresh.

Perhaps it is time to believe rookie directors when they say they want to show superstars in never-before-seen avatars. Tharun Sudhir has done what he promised with ‘Roberrt’.