PremiumBedurulanka 2012 on OTT: Kartikeya’s doomsday comedy holds a mirror to human opportunism
The film is written and directed by Clax and had music by Mani Sharma
Last Updated: 04.10 PM, Sep 23, 2023
Bedurulanka 2012, the doomsday comedy, had RX 100 star Kartikeya paired alongside DJ Tillu actress Neha Sshetty. The film marked the directorial debut of Ram Gopal Varma’s protege Clax. Mani Sharma scored the music for the project produced by Ravindra Benarjee Muppaneni under Loukya Entertainments. After a decent theatrical run, the film released on Amazon Prime Video this week.
The film tells the story of an island Bedurulanka, where the fear around doomsday grips its residents ahead of December 21, 2012. A corporate professional Siva returns to the village after giving up his job and wants to marry his lady love Chitra. Meanwhile, a village head Bhushanam along with a group of men hatch a plot to cash in the fears of the residents and make money.
Despite the thematic similarities to Nithya Menen’s Skylab, Bedurulanka 2012’s intentions are genuine. It is entertaining, holds a mirror to human opportunism and there’s a sincere attempt to tell a story minus any glorification of its lead characters. While Kartikeya and Neha’s presence gives it necessary commercial appeal, it also provides ample opportunity for everyone to shine.
The story showcases how religion and the idea of God are misused by the powerful to instill fear and serves as a plea for humans to believe in themselves. Clax, the first-time director, deserves credit because his primary focus is to establish the eccentricities of the the backdrop, where well-written, layered characters have quirky backstories.
While the main aim of the protagonist is to teach the miscreants a lesson, the need to win over his girlfriend provides him an additional motive. If the first hour gives you a taste of what Beduralanka as a place is all about, the screenplay gains momentum when Siva outsmarts the village heads in their style. The idea of humans overcoming their inhibitions, revealing their true colours strikes a chord.
The only issue with the film is its consistency. The storytelling isn’t seamless and is distracted by too many subplots; the leisurely treatment in the first hour is a true patience tester. The perversion in the humour gets on your nerves beyond a point. However, Bedurulanka 2012 makes up for its follies largely due to its pitch-perfecting casting decisions.
The gang of Ajay Ghosh, Srikanth Iyyangar, Jabardasth Ram Prasad truly look their part and play it with immense conviction. Even the underrated Rajkumar Kasireddy has an impressive character graph. The sequence where Surabhi Prabhavati and Neha Sshetty discuss their difficulties of finding their place in a man’s world is particularly poignant.
It’s an encouraging sign that an actor like Kartikeya gave his nod to a film where the story and the humour are the true heroes. Neha Sshetty does quite well to make audiences forget her DJ Tillu avatar. One of the film’s major disappointments is Mani Sharma’s album. Although most songs have decent situational value, none of them stay with you beyond the viewing experience.
With its light-hearted take on the dark side to humanity, Bedurulanka 2012 is a convenient one-time watch on OTT, provided you're patient enough to tolerate a sluggish start.