Sunday, January 19, 2020
Darbar Movie Review
Same Old Rehashed ScrapDarbar Movie Review | Analysis
Rajinikanth is back with another masala-action film, 'Darbar', to please his fans, but does the film has anything to offer to the non-fan audience. Read on.
Aditya Arunachalam (Rajinikanth) is a trigger-happy policeman who is on a killing spree. The press calls him "mad", but he is fully supported by his junior officers and the entire police department. He was specially drafted from Chennai to Mumbai, to boost the image of the Mumbai Police.
The films opens with the Mumbai city Police Commissioner, Aditya Arunachalam, killing dozens of rowdies. Then the film goes into the flashback mode to narrate the backstory which has caused Aditya Arunachalam to go on a kill binge. The flashback actually forms the major part of the film, and only at the onset of the final portion, it reverts back to its initial present day setting.
But, even with its back and forth narration, the film almost contains no suspense at all, as it spills the beans at the very outset. The reason for the lead character's killing spree and the identity of lead villain is revealed at the very beginning of their respective segments. You just sit there and watch the film take a stupidly complex route to reach an already pre-determined destination. The film gives you nothing to hold onto, and is all over the place specially in the first half. The film is almost never engaging. But, because the main intention of the movie is hero-devotion and not telling a compelling story, it will obviously not make for an interesting watch, and it will be difficult for the non-fan audience to sit through this film. The film is quite tedious, but there are a couple of good portions in the film which serve as redeeming elements.
'Darbar' moves at a brisk pace from the start to the end, and, only the songs in between come across as speed-breakers. But, the brisk pace is mostly due to the superficial and sketch-like screenplay, which has no depth in its story or the characters. The narration acts like a devotional play or a lengthy news bulletin of its lead actor's supposedly valiant acts with heroic background music, purely meant to appease fans. The writing is lousy and the low effort is evident on the screen. The scenes are written with the only intention of hyping-up the 'Hero' of the film, but even there, the lack of effort is clearly obvious.
The film is glossy on the outside, hollow and fragile inside. The film looks all grand and lavish in most if its scenes, but the grandness comes across as cheap make-up done to hide the ugliness beneath it, and the underlying cheapness in terms of its overall quality becomes evident as the film moves on. 'Darbar' seems to be purely made to just to rake in moolah at the box office by encashing Rajnikanth's huge popularity. The film seems to be made on a pretty tight budget if we take out Rajinikanth's fees.
But, Rajinikath's good performance keeps this slowly sinking boat afloat till the end, and the film somehow manages to reach the shore. The songs are strictly average, and the background music is good in parts. The acting performances are good, but apart from Rajinikanth, most other actors' characters don't have much scope and are written in a disposable way just to serve the lead actor's character. For example, actress Nayanthara's character serves no purpose in the film apart from adding a force-fitted romantic angle to the film.
These are not just the only problems with the film. 'Darbar' celebrates the lead character's extra-judicial killings, and sings praises of his brand of "justice". The film ridicules and reduces the Human rights officers to jokers, and portrays them as if they are villains. The movie has an embedded mob-mentality to make the film appealing to its target audience, and also may be the filmmakers also believe in what they've shown in the film to be right.
Overall, you can give 'Darbar' a miss, as there is nothing in the film that is worth your time and money. But, if you are a Rajinikanth fan, then go ahead.
Rating - 2/5
- Review by Aditya.
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