Darshan is one of the top Kannada film stars and he says he prefers doing mass oriented roles rather than films that try to convey some message to the audience. And true to his word, most of his movies boast of a high dose of commercial ingredients and less of logic in the content.
Film: “Arjun”
Cast: Darshan, Meera Chopra, Anant Nag, Oorvashi, Sanjana, Suman and Sharath Lohithashwa
Director: Shahu Raj Shinde
Cinematographer: P.K.H. Das
Music: V. Harikrishana
Rating: 2/5
The actor should realise that his successful films like “Gaja” were good content-wise and had a believable story line. Unfortunately “Arjun” has a poor story and an illogical plot, and therefore it fails to enthuse the audience, who had a lot of expectations from the movie.
Darshan has played a cop in two films – “Ayya” and “Swami”. The story of these films were inspired from successful Telugu and Tamil flicks. And Om Prakash Rao, the director of “Ayya”, was capable of infusing some novel elements in his film.
But “Arjun” director Sahuraj Shinde is not all that talented when it comes to innovation and novelty.
In the film, he has added many sequences that do not relate to the main story line. “Arjun” drags from the first reel on and there is no respite for the audience thereafter. Moreover, the so-called comedy sequences are amateurishly handled.
Harikrishna and dance director Tribhuvan’s impressive work notwithstanding, “Arjun” may not appeal even to frontbenchers.
Darshan plays the title role of “Arjun”. The hero’s father is a rich man who wants to see his son as an honest cop. Thanks to his affluent father, Arjun splurges on petty criminals and reforms them so they can work as informers to help the police department.
During the course of his investigation and feedback from reformed criminals, Arjun zeroes in on three top criminals. And with his meticulous and intelligent planning, Arjun wipes off all the baddies in the end.
Darshan has performed his role with remarkable ease and he shines in the fight and dance sequences.
But Delhi girl Meera Chopra fails to make an impact in her first Kannada film and Sanjana is completely wasted. Veterans Anant Nag and Oorvashi have very little to do while villains Suman, Sharath Lohithashwa and Ajay just scream throughout the movie.
Harikrishna has composed two good songs – “Balle balle” and the title song. Ravi Varma’s action sequences are a real treat.
But the lack of a believable story is the main drawback of “Arjun”. Fans will be utterly disappointed with this film mainly because Darshan repeatS the same commercial formula like in all his films. “Arjun” is just an average film.
— By V.S. Rajapur
