'Shivam Bhaje', produced by Ganga Entertainments, was released today in theatres. In this section, we are going to tell you what the movie has in store for the audience.
Plot:
The film begins with visuals of China and Pakistan plotting to inflict unprecedented damage on India. We are not told how exactly they are going to do it. We get a sense that a bio-war is an important element of their assault.
Somewhere in Hyderabad, Chandru (Ashwin Babu), who works as a heroic loan recovery agent, rubs certain goons on the wrong side. In an attack, he loses his eyesight. A quick surgery, thanks to a donor, helps him recover his vision. In what turns out to be a divine plan (the title stands justified), he acquires special prowess to make sense of a larger conspiracy around him.
Performances:
Ashwin Babu has been trying hard to become a macho action hero. He is in the same league as Bellamkonda Sreenivas in terms of that dream (except that his films have had little reach among the Hindi audience). His recent outings ('Hidimbha' last year and 'Shivam Bhaje' this year) come with fairly high budgets.
Arbaaz Khan is seen as a cop who marvels at his one constant mood: that of making his suspicions obvious. Digangana Suryavanshi is a pure glam doll; even when people around her face existential crisis, she refuses to break down. Hyper Aadi is at his usual self. Murali Sharma is seen as that hyper-angry doctor who puts another doctor in deep trouble by outing a rare human error in the presence of the victim himself, legal issues be damned. Sai Dheena, Brahmaji, Tulasi, and others are part of the cast.
Technical aspects:
Vikas Badisa's songs don't stay with you. The background score does haunt you, though (thanks to its ability to hurt your eardrums). Sahi Suresh's production design is decent. Dasaradhi Shivendra's cinematography is the best among all technical departments. The fights composed by Prithvi and Ramakrishna are absolutely routine.
Analysis:
The film takes off on an ambitious note. We expect it to become a 'RAW vs ISI' thriller. 'Shivam Bhaje' has no such plans; it comes with different story beats. That is not a minus in itself, though. What definitely is a drawback is the sub-par investigation track that is an integral link in the cross-border conspiracy against India. The theatre of action is Hyderabad.
The investigator, ACP Murali, hardly has any interest in moving the needle. Even when he suspects someone close to him, he doesn't look dangerous. He makes obvious observations after days of delay. In one scene, he talks about the serial killer using two different sets of weapons in two different instances. And then proceeds to say, "We are missing something." You are missing something because you have not yet begun your investigation, you fool! Yes, his inertia is justified by the story. But then, that's not how a smart investigation track is to be written. You have to give zero reasons for the audience to entertain suspicions about a character's inexplicable lethargy. This investigator in 'Shivam Bhaje' takes forever just to order the pulling out of the bank details of one Vincent (Sai Dheena).
Sailaja falls in love with Chandru because he comes up with gems like this: "Don't harass women. If they stop coming out of their homes due to the harassment, it is the men who will be at a loss". Seriously? She feels lucky enough to bump into such a person every now and then - at a shopping mall, near a vet centre, etc.
To be sure, the Xenotransplantation plot is refreshing. Had it been explored to build a tight screenplay, 'Shivam Bhaje' would have been out of the box. Director Apsar mounts the film, however, as a low-stakes dishum-dishum slugfest. That's its biggest undoing.
Closing Remarks:
'Shivam Bhaje' attempts to be out-of-the-box. But it lacks the ambition, nuance, and smarts to do that.
