Bandobast Movie Review
Suriya’s Bandobast is an action thriller that has a stellar supporting cast. Mohanlal, Arya, Boman Irani and Samuthirakani in supporting roles raised expectations on this KV Anand’s film. Sadly, it turned out to be another disappointing film from Suriya who has been struggling to find good scripts lately.
What is it about?
SPG Officer Ravi (Suriya) saves Prime Minister Chandrakanth (Mohanlal) a couple of times from terrorist attacks. But he couldn’t save him from a well planned attack. Chandrakanth’s son Abhi (Arya) becomes the new Prime Minister and the bad guys are after him too. Ravi has to save Abhi and the country from the terrorists and capitalists.
Performances:
Suriya as always gives his hundred percent to the character. He looks fit and apt as the Chief Security officer of the Prime Minister. He also appears as an organic farmer and a romantic besides being the savior. Mohanlal’s charismatic screen presence is a pleasure to watch while his character lasted. Arya is okay as the youngster who has no clue on politics. Sayyesha did well within the limitations of her character. Boman Irani appears as a corporate villain and his presence adds value to the film.
Technicalities:
KV Anand likes to make movies that are loaded with action and commercial elements. Bandobast is no different from his previous films, but the script is so sluggish and half-baked to keep the audience invested. Anand tried to make it look like a Bond like action film, but focusing on too many elements only made it a boring action saga.
Harris Jayaraj’s songs are mediocre at best. The background score also is uneven. Cinematography and action stunts are impressive. Editing could have been better. Production values are adequate.
Thumbs Up:
Suriya
Action Scenes
Thumbs Down:
Uninteresting Screenplay
Bad Music
Lengthy Runtime
Pointless Direction
Analysis:
KV Anand always tries to mix various elements into one script, which doesn’t come out well on many instances. He should have focused on making it a slick thriller than including elements like organic farming that only stretched the film a bit longer than it should be. Hero is introduced as an organic farmer just to confuse the audience in an elaborate attack scene on the Prime Minister. And this farmer keeps on intervening when the film is running on full-on action mode.
We understand that the villain is using a bio weapon on farmers for the sake of his mining industry. The protagonist need not be a farmer to stop this. The attacks on Prime Minister keep on happening at brisk pace, which looks stupid after a point. Is it easy for anybody to attempt serial attacks against the Prime Minister of a country? This doesn’t stop after one Prime Minister is killed. The terrorists continue to attack his son, the present Prime Minister. Even diehard action fans would scream ‘gimme a break’ looking at the dumbness that is happening on the screen.
The director finds time to squeeze in some songs into this action mess, which makes it even more lethargic and tedious. There are far too many lengthy scenes that refuse to end. There is no place for crisp and sharp storytelling in Bandobast. Even a stellar star cast couldn’t save this colossal mess that goes aimlessly in all directions in the name of twists and turns. Suriya has done his best, but the film is too silly to take it seriously. It will go down as yet another forgettable film for Suriya despite his best efforts.
Verdict: Pointless Action Saga!
