Another take on B'luru's seamy side

Chakravarthy
Kannada (A) **
Cast: Darshan, Dinakar Thoogudeepa, Kumar Bangarappa, Deepa Sannidhi, Aditya, Srujan Lokesh, Lohithashwa
Director: Chintan A V

Bengaluru’s infamous underworld of the 80s once again forms convenient canvas for director Chintan’s crime thriller Chakravarthy. With obvious allusions to men who infested the city’s seamy underbelly, Chakravarthy is entirely Challenging Star Darshan’s show. The stylised machu langu, rowdy drama is peppered with mushy romance to relieve audiences of some tedious action.

In keeping with its tagline — “a rare combination of brain and crime” — the film charts the rise and growth of a simple and modest Shankar into the unwilling ‘Don of Notorious’ Chakravarthy.

Chakravarthy is arrested in Malaysia by anti-rowdy specialist Suryakanth and brought to Bengaluru. Following this, a retired policeman, during a panel discussion on TV, narrates how Shankar is a creation and convenient pawn of policemen to checkmate Maharaja who spread terror in the city under the patronage of CM Appaji. How Shankar’s wife Shanti and father stand witness against him, triggering the film’s flashback, and whether Shankar meets his nemesis in encounter specialist Suryakanth, forms rest of Chakravarthy. Except that Aditya dons the uniform as Suryakanth, and Kumara Bangarappa marks his return to films, there is nothing spectacular to root for Chakravarthy. Two soulful romantic numbers by Arjun Janya strike an emotive chord. But for Darshan’s fans, Chakravarthy is festive time at theatres.