There’s an elephant we have to get out of the room while talking about Rakshit Shetty movies – ‘it’s different.’
That’s precisely why the Shetty team of the Kannada industry has rose from zero to a clean hundred in a relatively short time. They look good on screen and they do things differently. Kannada film industry has long since been stuck in the vicious circle of masala action and love stories until the new wave was initiated by Ulidavaru Kandanthe, Naticharami and Rangitaranga. KGF came much later and definitely on a different level. But the Shetty team quite unarguably holds the credit for motivating the ‘let’s do it differently’ trend in Sandalwood with attempts like Godhi Banna Sadharana Maikattu, Sarkari Hiriya Prarthamika Shaale Kasargod and so on. They fail and they succeed massively but they don’t revert to the mundane. Avane Shrimannarayana is no different- it is different and the ladies cannot help losing their minds over the dashing police inspector on screen, as it is always the case with Rakshit Shetty.
There are two specific things I personally like about Rakshit Shetty movies. One, attention to detail and two, his journeys into people’s consciousness.
Avane Shrimannarayana has quite a few fight sequences which become interesting owing to the sheer amount of planning that is quite evident. The plates and glasses hitting the right spots at right times, guns and bullets triggered in perfect moments and even descent of people. The amount of planning and execution to ace that timing is definitely commendable. You can’t help but smile at the perfect moments an incident takes place and brings about a twist in the tale. Also, the kind of strategies the lead character employs to get things done his way from portraying himself as an over confident idiot at first to actually accomplishing the purpose of the story is a result of intensive planning; something most Kannada movies resist from trying out. The Kannada industry has stuck with simple story lines and mass approach in story telling until this new wave of clustered narration was experimented with, and now it has almost become a signature style of the Shetty fraternity.
As for the second factor, a small but incredible element Rakshit Shetty seems to love is jumping into other people’s consciousness in the midst of a story. He’s done that a lot- and it works every single time. The memory of another becomes the scene and he manipulates it, talks to the characters in the past, they stop mid-way when something goes wrong and he rewinds it again from a different perspective. He talks to his own self and it responds, his imaginations suddenly appear around in graphics and he touches and feels them as though its all tangible. This style of portraying human conscious, as far as my meagre Kannada film knowledge goes, is new for Sandalwood.
And he looks good. Definitely a major advantage for movies that star Rakshit Shetty.
Avane Shrimannarayana is not exactly a ‘realistic’ script but the making of it definitely makes us overlook that. ASN worked because all Rakshit Shetty signature elements were pulled off in the right dozes in the movie and timed perfectly. Put together, they make a great recipe for a new wave movie.
(Not an expert in film reviews or criticism. This is a past-time ‘movie experience’ write-up.)
ficklesorts 
Leave a Reply