Title – Shivaji Surathkal 2, Duration – 2H 3M, Genre – Crime Investigative Thriller, Verdict – Ramesh Aravind to the rescue.
Director, Writer & Editor – Akash Srivatsa, Producer – Anoop Gowda, Cinematographer – Guruprasad MG, Music – Judah Sandhy, Banner – Anjanadri Cine Creations.
Cast – Ramesh Aravind, Radhika Narayan, Nassar, Meghana Goankar, Sangeetha Sringeri, KS Sridhar, Poornachandra Mysore, Puneeth BA, Raaghu Ramanakoppa, Vinayak Joshi, Sunder Veena, Ramesh Bhat, Nidhi Hegde, Vidhya Murthy, Aaradhya.
Shivaji Surathkal a series of investigative thriller series of films like Sherlock Holmes in Kannada is now on the big screens with its first sequel film. This second film opens 5yrs later than the first movie story and has multiple plots and timelines which come together in the climax giving the required reasonings.
The protagonist of this film Shivaji (Ramesh) is juggling between finding & catching the demon outside who is a serial killer on the loose and also struggling with identifying & controlling his inner demons caused by past personal traumas. The journey of the film showcases both emotional and investigative in parallel throughout. The emotional side of the movie has its major moments in the film especially that of fatherhood portrayed from different perspectives by multiple characters played by Ramesh Aravind, Nassar and Poornachandra Mysore which are well-designed and hit the right cords, but takes a slight setback in terms of the investigative part offering no newness to the audience.
The highlight and the savior of the movie on screen & off has to be Shivaji Surathkal himself. Ramesh Aravind brings the required charm and wit to keep it interesting, and holds all attention. There are multiple known popular faces throughout the film which is a asset to the film but also feels underuse of talents in terms of characterization at few moments. Radhika Narayan, Baby Aaradhya, and television actor Vidhya Murthy make up for perfect family drama. Raaghu Ramanakoppa and Puneeth BA sprinkle humor alongside the protagonist Ramesh Aravind to this serious subject.
Technically the movie is kept simple and neat but the background score done by Judah Sandy will linger on even after the movie. But with the popularity and easy access of content via OTT platforms genres like crime drama, integrative series, to serial killer documentaries has been frequently viewed which makes it difficult for the movies to impress the audience instantly but Shivaji Surathkal 2 will make it worth the watch for it well-balanced emotional side and of-course Ramesh Aravind performance is must-see on the big screen.
