Ghost on OTT: Recapping what makes Shivarajkumar’s heist thriller a must watch

At the stroke of midnight today, Century Star Shivarajkumar’s Dasara hit Ghost will drop on OTT. Zee5 will make the film available in its Kannada original version, as well as with Telugu audio. The other versions, according to director MG Srinivas, have been sold separately, and the streaming dates of those are yet to be determined. The film, which released amid stiff box office competition from biggies like Leo, Bhagavanth Kesari and Tiger Nageswara Rao, did well, despite mixed reviews. While fans loved the film, some found it too fast-paced and, hence, incoherent. As the film preps for its OTT premiere on November 17, here’s a look at what worked for audiences.

OG of Kannada cinema

Among the early glimpses of Ghost was the Big Daddy teaser, which elevated audience expectation and how. Srinivas, though, later clarified that this gangster portion was only a minor element of the narrative and does not account for more than 10-20% of the story. When the film came out, though, that bit was one of the major highlights, with audiences taking an instant liking to the character Dalavayi Muddanna, so much so that the team is now contemplating doing a spin-off focusing on him before they embark on Ghost 2.

Ghost movie review: Shivarajkumar and MG Srinivas deliver on their promise of action heist thriller; it's fun, stylish and has substance too 

Shivarajkumar’s looks and swag

61-year old Shivarajkumar has three distinctive avatars in the film. A digitally de-aged version, a middle-aged one and an older avatar. While the de-aged look reminded audiences of vintage Shivarajkumar from his early movies, it’s the middle-aged portion as Dalavayi Muddanna that was, undoubtedly, the winner, followed closely by the older version of this character. Shivarajkumar was all swag as the ruthless gangster, as well as the mysterious ‘Ghost’ who takes an entire prison block hostage.

Jayaram’s casting

The veteran Malayalam actor did justice to his Kannada film debut, with a role that was as important as that of Shivarajkumar. As a police officer and hostage negotiator, Jayaram had a meaty role that goes head-on with Shivarajkumar. The actor even dubbed for his portions in the Kannada version, with audiences appreciate of the effort and that he managed it almost flawlessly.

Exclusive! Jayaram on Ghost: The crux of the film revolves around Shivarajkumar and my character

Foot-tapping tunes

Ghost was Arjun Janya’s first tryst with an action heist thriller and he took it as a challenge to deliver a score that would elevate the sequences. Arjun not only lived up to that promise, but over-delivered with the background score and the OGM tracks that play along the way being major highlights of the film.

Fast-paced narrative

Ghost is just a tad over 2 hours in run-time, with the narrative progressing at a fast pace. Considering that there are three dimensions to Shivarajkumar’s character, some felt that the shift between each and the non-linear narrative was a tad difficult to keep pace with. But by and large, audiences were appreciative of the fast pace, which worked well for the heist thriller and avoided lags in the story-teling.

Shivarajkumar’s Ghost will be the foundation of the Srinivas Cinematic Universe