Bank of Bhagyalakshmi movie review: Dheekshith Shetty is the heart and soul of passable heist comedy

Bank of Bhagyalakshmi movie story: A bunch of thieves led by Tiger (Dheekshith Shetty) hit a co-operative bank, in the hope that the loot will set them up comfortably. To their bad luck, though, the timing of their heist is wrong, as most of the money had been moved out for ATM distribution only moments ago, leaving them with a paltry Rs 66,999. And if that isn’t bad enough, the bank’s shutter auto-locks from the outside, scuttling their get-away plans. Can Tiger and co find an escape route after all?

Bank of Bhagyalakshmi movie review: In all his promotional interviews of Bank of Bhagyalakshmi, Dheekshith Shetty spoke about the film as a wholesome entertainer, never once letting slip that he’s done the heavy lifting to make this possible. Dheekshith, quite literally, shoulders the film and makes good use of his easy-going charm to play a slightly goofy thief whose trademark is his limited hold over the English language. He underplays this trait just enough to ensure the characterisation is never caricaturish and rather fun to watch.

The problem with Dheekshith being everywhere is that the rest of the characters, handled ably by actors like Gopalkrishna Deshpande, Bharath GB, Usha Bhandary, Sadhu Kokila, Brinda Acharya, Ashwin Rao Pallaki, Srivatsa and Sruthi Hariharan, among others, feel like space fillers and nothing more. There’s really nothing for them to sink their teeth into. In an A-lister movie, this would never be something to complain about, with audiences more than happy when a star gets an almost one-man show. With Bank of Bhagyalakshmi, this is exactly where I am on the fence.

Also read: Dheekshith Shetty: Bank of Bhagyalakshmi explores a hard-hitting truth with humour 

As much as Dheekshith does justice to his role and holds the film together, one cannot help but shake the feeling that the distribution of weight lifting should have been done better, given the able cast on board. What would have also really helped is if the mandatory romantic angle had been dispensed with, keeping the narrative strictly to the heist, the ‘big discovery’ and the great escape, with less talking and more action.

For a first-timer, Manjunath presents a fairly enjoyable ride. It’s not groundbreaking cinema, and makes for a decent one-time watch.

Bank of Bhagyalakshmi movie verdict: Bank of Bhagyalakshmi is not about a bunch of misfits hoping for a big payday; it’s social commentary masked under the guise of comedy. Thankfully, it doesn’t misfire.