Bhairathi Ranagal movie review: A fiery Shivarajkumar anchors Narthan’s Mufti prequel that needed to slow down  

Of course, in Mufti, when we first see him, he is a cold-blooded gangster who tramples everyone in his way. However, as the credits rolled, we understood he is more of a messiah. Through this prequel, we are told a rather straightforward tale about a man who is forced to take up a violent path to stand by the people who needed more than just a black robe-wearing lawyer. But first, we have to go to 1985 to understand what makes the core of Ranagal. 

In easily one of my favourite stretches in the film, we see a fire engine meet with an accident. An inhabitant of Ronapura sees this accident and runs to bring people. The firemen find their way out of the lopsided truck to see the villagers use the vehicle’s water supply to fill their vessels. Not one goes on to ask if everything is okay with the firemen. Such is the drought in Ronapura, and the systemic ignorance of their plight forces young Bhairathi Ranagal to take matters in his own hands, which results in a grave incident that puts him in prison for 21 years. Soon after, we meet the older Bhairathi Ranagal, who has studied law in prison, and walks out a lawyer. But Ronapura has a different set of problems now. They have water, but they also have iron ore. This development keeps them under the ruthless capitalism of a few. Of course, Ranagal takes up this case, and helps the workers from unions to fight for their rights. However, in the continuous successful attempts to deify Ranagal, Narthan misses out on humanising the Ronapurians. 

Shivarajkumar in Bhairathi Ranagal.

This overt burden on Ranagal to lift the lives of the villagers is reflected in Shivarajkumar’s attempts to shoulder the film. While he does an impressive job with his earnestness and viciousness in equal measure, the film doesn’t often do him justice. The moment Ranagal goes renegade, subtlety and nuance goes out of the picture. In fact, the film starts dipping after the lawyer decides to take the law into his own hands. 

Here’s the Bhairathi Ranagal Trailer:

Also, the fact that Ranagal doesn’t face a worthy adversary proves to be the undoing of the film, especially in the last act. Every calculative move by the antagonist Parande (a convincing Rahul Bose) is thwarted with consummate ease. What really brings the film down is the makers’ bizarre decision to focus on stitching together scenes to lead to the happenings of Mufti. This doesn’t allow the makers to treat the final act of Bhairathi Ranagal as an individual high moment. 

But till then, Bhairathi Ranagal is on top gear. The transformation of the lawyer into the gangster is terrific because each elevation, each build up, each crime leads to an explosive interval that truly proves why Shivarajkumar is often called the OG gangster in Kannada cinema. And the stunt sequences are gory, brutal, and yet, somehow, very engaging. It is probably because almost each of these action set-pieces have a strong emotional core. Every scene gets bigger and better, and full points to Ravi Basrur’s music and Naveen Kumar’s cinematography. Interestingly enough they don’t lead the audience, and instead follow the scene’s lead.

It is wonderful to discover the film instead of being nudged towards seeing the film in a particular way. The first half is peppered with seamless organic and yet powerful moments that build to the big payoff. It helps that the sober Ranagal is perfectly matched by the lethal boorishness of Shabeer Kallarakkal’s character. It also helps that we are introduced to the ruthlessness of Parande, an evil CEO of a mining conglomerate, through a terrific scene involving a bee and the flora of the neighbourhood.

Shabeer Kallarackal and Rahul Bose in Bhairathi Ranagal.

Narthan has a firm grip on setting the stage for the transformation by throwing the people into such desolate pits that they need a demi-god more than a messiah, and that’s exactly what happens with Ranagal. And each of these scenes are carefully constructed to give us the high of watching evil being vanquished. With so much care going into this elevation, it is slightly disappointing that Narthan rushes through the next half, almost as if he can’t wait to connect this film to the sequel. But the catch… that sequel is already made. 

But even in this rather rushed second half, it is a Shivarajkumar show through and through. There are moments of ingenuity, which gets overshadowed by the sudden genericity of it all. We don’t get to feel the weight of treachery, the burden of secrets, and the sacrifice of moving on. For instance, when Dr Vaishali (Rukmini Vasanth), who conveniently goes missing after the first half, makes a return to Ranagal’s life, it leads to a rather moving moment. We get a glimpse of the latter’s mental makeup as he is on a path of no return. Although it is too fleeting to register a major impact, we remember it is because Rukmini and Shivarajkumar play out those scenes with wonderful poise. It is almost like the entire film, for those two minutes, stopped in time, and allowed them to have their bittersweet moment. 

Rukmini Vasanth in Bhairathi Ranagal.

ALSO READ: Suriya slammed for releasing Kanguva on the same day as Bhairathi Ranagal, but postponing for Vettaiyan: ‘It’s not intentional’

This is exactly what Bhairathi Ranagal desperately needed. A moment to breathe. A moment to savour. A moment to understand the sacrifices that Bhairathi Ranagal made for the greater good. A moment to realise why he wields so much power. A moment to know what it takes out of a person who is forced to become a messiah. But as the credits rolled, what we get is a quick summation of the happenings of Mufti. If the film’s takeaway is an attempt to get people excited about what is going to happen next, and makes a lot more people watch Mufti, then it does get the basics of a prequel right. But does it do right by its intriguing protagonist who has more stories to tell, but no one to hear? Well, now that’s debatable. 

Bhairathi Ranagal Movie Director: Narthan

Bhairathi Ranagal Movie Cast: Shivarajkumar, Rukmini Vasanth, Rahul Bose, Shabeer Kallarakkal

Bhairathi Ranagal Movie Rating: 3 / 5