Shiva 143 movie review: Dheeren Ramkumar's debut is a relentless assault on the senses

2/5

Spoilers Ahead...

Story:

Shiva, a naive but congenial small-town boy, has a passionate love affair with the local politico's daughter Madhu. But tragedy strikes soon when Madhu is forcibly married off to someone else, thus prompting Shiva to grow maniacal and violent in search of his lost love. When Madhu eventually does return to the town three years later, things are not the same anymore and hell breaks loose when Shiva unearths a heartbreaking secret about her.

Review:

How much leeway does the small-town or village trope offer when it comes to commercial cinema? Filmmakers, particularly in south India, have grown to use this setting to present their main characters as models of naivety and innocence, who are often disillusioned when they collide with evil 'city-folk'. In most cases, the technique is exploitative because it allows the film to employ negative and regressive ideas without any accountability. And when it comes to matters such as love and romance, the city and small-town encounter has become appallingly formulaic in mainstream cinema but Kannada cinema seems in no mood to change things up. 

But in Shiva 143 (remake of the Telugu film RX 100), the same small-town setting lends to an interesting subversion - at least at first glance. We first catch Shiva as a forlorn lover obsessed with the love that was snatched from him, so much so that the name of his lover, Madhu, is proudly embossed right on top of his heart. But it is important to know why and how Shiva got to the stage and much of the introduction portion is the setup of this contrast. In one of the early scenes, we hear a visibly worried friend run up to Shiva to announce that the grandmother is dead. Shiva's expression becomes sombre at first which soon evolves into a smile because it isn't his grandmother who has died but Madhu's, and the sad event is sure to beckon his now-married lover back to her hometown after three long years. In short, Shiva is in a mental state where no tragedy strikes as important or worthy of his grief because his love isn't by his side.

And the film does bring out the flashback without fail, showing us the pre-Arjun Reddy phase of Shiva. Here, he bears a crisper haircut and an endearing charm of a small-town boy but things change quickly when the local politician's city-bred daughter Madhu lays her eyes on her. In a rather interesting sequence, we see a half-naked Shiva merrily dance at the politico's victory gathering while Madhu leers at him from the balcony. Shiva, the macho hunk, has no idea of this yet but Madhu has already claimed her rights over him.  

The next set of sequences is the film's main charm. The film flips the boy-meet-girl routine on its head and lets the girl make all the first moves: it's the girl who first throws the objectifying gaze, it's her who watches the boy walk away flustered and blushing after their first romantic encounter, and it's her who initiates sex. But just as when Shiva’s glorious daydream of being forever in the arms of Madhu almost becomes a reality, his one true passion is taken away mercilessly.

And then kicks in the relentlessness. Director Anil Kumar never utilises this subversion to any decent effect and before you know it, it all becomes a regular masala trope wherein the girl's evil side shows through, and we realise that she was always out to 'exploit' the boy for her own benefit. What began as an interesting setup becomes a gimmick within no time and although we are kept in the dark for the most part as to why the relationship fell apart, the eventual big reveal carries no nuance whatsoever.

In south Indian commercial cinema, matters related to love always get resolved through violence and it's the male protagonist who embodies that. But if he were to find his nemesis in the very girl he is in love with, violence will and should not ever be the viable resolution: yet, Shiva 143 dishes out meaningless action and fights throughout because it has run out of ideas and novelty a long time ago.

Will the boy ever resort to violence against the girl who wronged him in love? If the answer is a NO (thankfully so), then why not use a different emotion to reach the resolution? And the same resolution is arrived at in a rather appalling and silly way as the boy emphatically eulogizes himself in front of his ladylove.

It's a pity that Dheeren Ramkumar chose to make his debut with a remake, especially one that is set in a world and sensibility far removed from his own. As part of the third generation of actors from the Dr Rajkumar clan, he had every opportunity to stand apart from the league and work with one of the many enterprising filmmakers of the current lot. Instead, he is seen mouthing regressive lines about love and making cringe-worthy allusions to old films like Om: while he shows promise in certain moments, the subject matter doesn’t allow him to showcase his true inclinations as an actor.

Manvitha Kamath tries to do the best she can with a unidimensional part and even manages to leave an impression behind as the apathetic Madhu. Senior actors Charan Raj and Avinash do sincere justice to their roles but have nothing special to offer while Chikkanna, along with veteran comedian Sadhu Kokila, tries to infuse a bit of humor into the film.

Verdict:

Shiva 143 isn’t a faithful remake of the 2018 Telugu film but one may reckon that the latter did not warrant a retelling in the first place. There are sparks of an exciting, new-age small-town love story that quickly die down because of the reeking conventions and what’s left behind is an unimpressive attempt. Should you choose to spend time and money on only one film this weekend, Shiva 143 may not be the best bet.

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