Love life of a jailbird

S Shyam Prasad | NT

Bengaluru: Someone who finds prison to be the ultimate hangout sure makes for an interesting character. That is what ‘Bond Ravi’ is. The prison is his ‘office’ where he does his business best.

The world outside is allergic to him, whereas the jail provides him with all the security and comfort he desires. The director starts with such an unusual character. But how long can you keep someone imprisoned?

Even the audiences seek some fresh air. It is not just fresh air our hero meets but the love of his life. Sure, it is love that changes everything, right? What happens to the life and lifestyle of ‘Bond Ravi’ outside the jail forms the rest of the story.

Pramod, who has shown enormous promise as an actor in films like Premier Padmini and Ratnan Prapancha, shines in the lead role. It is not an acting-oriented role. Bond Ravi is a purely commercial character made for potboiler movies. But Pramod manages to bring his own style and substance to the role.

In fact, his acting is one of the highlights of the film.There are many other interesting things to look forward to in the film as well. Shobhraj, Dharma and Ravi Kale’s characters are quite well-defined and make a perfect drop into the cauldron. The film is filled with action sequences, as expected, and Mano Murthy’s music is the perfect foil for it.

He is one composer who has never diverted from melodies, and in this film again, he convinces the audience that it should always be the case. The film does not go overboard trying to preach a good life. Its only concern is to keep the audience guessing whether the lead character is a villain in the guise of a good man or a good man pretending to be the bad guy.

The director manages to keep this suspense well-balanced. A quick-paced narrative helps in engaging the audience with entertainment at all times. The film delivers what it promises. It is an out-andout commercial masala film that does not pretend to be anything else. The hero is a fan of Puneeth Rajkumar (Anna Bond fan) while the heroine is a village-girl-inthe-big-bad-city.

The story is populated by villains by the dozen and our hero does a great job of swatting them away. Add the melodies and sentimental drama and voila, the potboiler is ready. If masala films are your staple, this film won’t disappoint one bit.