In the pursuit of solving an ancient mystery of the small south Indian town of Amaravati, Narayana, a corrupt cop must battle the dangerous clan of dacoits [bandits] and it’s fierce leader.
This is a mashup of a Western, an action thriller, a swashbuckler, rivalry between murderous brothers, putting on a play, and an Indian mythological fantasy of sorts. If that sounds bonkers it is,
kind of. But it is a kind of bonkers that I found really entertaining. A lot of the fun lies in all the genres that are ruthlessly shoved together with humor, excellent production values, entertaining dialogue, and engaging screen presence from Rakshit Shetty who portrays Narayana.
I'm pleased to hear that there is a spinoff being considered, featuring Cowboy Krishna, who is "protecting American culture" in the town with his saloon.
This is not a Bollywood movie but a Kannada language film from "Sandalwood." (I love the creativity with the "wood" names.)
It is a long film with a lot going on. The plot is complicated (although we kept up without more difficulty than occasionally losing track of who was who in the secondary characters. And it is loaded with visual jokes and references. Some of these are easy for Americans like the saloon and Western stuff and some are going to go right over your head (as they doubtless did for us). But it doesn't matter. The story works without getting everything.
Rating — for viewers with medium to difficult Indian film experience. (It's not rocket science, but without any cultural background at all you might feel kind of lost.)
Watch it on Amazon Prime.
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