Upendra-Kichcha Sudeep’s period action film, Kabzaa turns out to be a poor man’s KGF despite some promising names in its cast.
Cast: Upendra, Kichcha Sudeep, Shriya Saran, Murali Sharma, Nawab Shah
Director: R Chandru
Writers: R Chandru
‘If you want to play with me, I will play the game. If you want to kill me, I will end the game,’ says Arkeshwara (Upendra) to one of his opponents in the midst of an action sequence in R Chandru’s latest outing, Kabzaa.
Unfortunately, the audience isn’t fortunate enough to get this option to stop the assault on their senses that the film subjects them to for a runtime of 2 hours and 16 minutes.
What’s Yay: Shivakumar’s art design is the only bright spot
What’s Nay: Abysmal direction, disjointed screenplay, patchy editing
Story
Kabzaa begins with a police officer Bhargava Bakshi (Kichcha Sudeep) getting all the ‘rowdy sheeters’ of the town to assemble in one place. After some of his godawful punches (both figuratively and literally), the film draws its attention to the main man, Arkeshwara, the son of a freedom fighter.
Post his father’s demise, Arkeshwara along with his brother Sankeshwara and mother leave their village Sangram Nagar and relocate to Amrapura, a small town which is ruled by Veer Bahadur (Murli Sharma). The two brothers make a humble living by selling flags while their mother takes to charkha-weaving.
Years pass by and Arkeshwara (Upendra) grows up to become an Airforce officer. His childhood sweetheart and Veer Bahadur’s daughter, Rajkumar Madhumati (Shriya Saran), dreams of a ‘happy’ life with him.
Unfortunately, destiny has something else in store for them. Arkeshwara is forced to switch on his ‘avenger’ mode when his brother Sankeshwara is brutally murdered and his head is delivered to him in a sack. One killing leads to another and soon, the law-abiding Arkeshwara wipes out all his opponents to become a dreaded mafia don who controls both, the land and the sea. But is this really the end?
Direction
When the trailer of Kabzaa dropped online, the film’s backdrop, the frames and Ravi Basrur’s fierce music instantly reminded many of the Kannada monster hit, Yash-starrer KGF. Sadly, R Chandru is no Prashanth Neel to pull off a beast like this!
Massy films can be entertaining to watch if done right. But Kabzaa lacks conviction right from the word ‘go’. The screenplay is scattered all over the place and the constant to-and-fro narrative makes things even worse.
One of the biggest drawbacks of Kabzaa is the lack of powerful antagonists. Upendra’s Arkeshwara goes on a killing spree, piling dead bodies behind him and splattering blood over the frames, but none of the confrontations leave an impact. The villains are supposed to be cruel and one of them even has that word tattooed on his face. Ironically, in Kabzaa’s world, the bad guys are anything but ferocious. Further, the crappy dialogues (the Hindi version has some ghastly dubbed lines) add salt to your injury.
Even the amma-sentiment barely evokes any emotions because of the underwhelming writing.
Performances
Upendra, one of the most established names in the Kannada film industry, tries hard to salvage this mess called Kabzaa. Unfortunately, he barely gets anything to hold on to. His Arkeshwara lacks the swag that is required to leave a lasting impression.
If you are excited to watch Kichcha Sudeep on the big screen then get ready to be disappointed! The actor gets only a cameo in the first part of Kabzaa.
Shriya Saran looks resplendent in every frame, but suffers from an inconsequential role. Her chemistry with Upendra is ice-cold and their romantic scenes look bland.
Murali Sharma is passable. Faces like Nawab Shah, Kota Srinivas Rao, Posani Krishna Murali, Kabir Duhan Singh and Taha Shah pop in and out of the screen, but they hardly create menace and chaos on screen.
Technical Aspects
Ravi Basrur’s background score is annoyingly jarring especially when the one that plays every time when Shriya Saran’s Madhumati makes an appearance on screen. AJ Shetty’s cinematography and the production design is the only silver lining in Kabzaa. One of the places where the Upendra starrer scores terribly low is Mahesh S Shetty’s editing. The excessive use of blackouts and fast paced jump cuts never allows the film to be an immersive experience.
Music
The Chinni Prakash choreographed song ‘Namaami Namaami’ featuring Shriya Saran is pleasing to the eyes. The rest of the tracks are forgettable.
Verdict
The English translation of one of the dialogues in Kabzaa goes like, ‘History remembers only the victorious hands but not the fallen heads.’
Sadly, this Upendra-Kichcha Sudeep starter has neither any head nor limb to create one!
