Early into Veera Chandrahasa, it’s pure to really feel like you’re watching a night-long efficiency of Yakshagana, the traditional coastal artwork type. A few scenes play out for therefore lengthy, maybe for quarter-hour or extra, that they really feel like they’re straight out of a stage play. In that sense, the movie is a sincere ode to Yakshagana.
Music composer Ravi Basrur, well-known for KGF and Salaar, has donned the hat of a director in Veera Chandrahasa. Basrur narrates the story of Chandrahasa — the favored story of an orphan who turns into the king of the Kuntala Kingdom in Hindu mythology — within the type of a Yakshagana efficiency.
Veera Chandrahasa (Kannada)
Director: Ravi Basrur
Cast: Sthithil Shetty, Prasanna Shettigar, Nagashree GS, Dr Shiva Rajkumar, Uday Kadabal
Runtime: 160 minutes
Storyline: In the Kundala Kingdom, raised with love, Chandrahasa grows into a virtuous younger man, unaware of the highly effective enemies plotting towards him
For a whereas, the experimental take feels immersive. However, the novelty doesn’t final lengthy. Veera Chandrahasa lacks important cinematic components to stay participating all through its runtime (20 minutes shy of three hours). The film, which advantages from its sparks of humour, may have been a character research of the central character Chandrahasa. The simple narration of an age-old story and the rudimentary remedy of the screenplay makes the movie seem a tad dated.
Basrur’s no-holds-barred music swings between vibrant and ear-splitting. The sound mixing retains the spirit of Yakshagana alive, doing justice to the movie’s theme. The advantageous performances do justice to the rhythm of a Yakshagana present, with Prasanna Shettigar, taking part in the antagonist Dhushtabuddhi, because the standout. Shivarajkumar makes use of his huge expertise to convey a royal contact to his cameo.
The film’s climax reminds you of Kantara (2022). Basrur goes for a similar visceral impression of the ultimate parts of Rishab Shetty’s film and virtually pulls it off. But the monotonic buildup to the ultimate act means you aren’t as gripped as you had been whereas watching Kantara.
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Basrur performs to his strengths, but the film may have benefited from some risk-taking. The shoddy VFX and the uninteresting motion sequences show that the movie required a larger canvas.
What if a modern-day battle was mirrored with Yakshagana as a software? Perhaps Basrur and his crew can discover this idea for a future try.
Veera Chandrahasa is presently working in theatres
Published – April 19, 2025 07:03 pm IST
