Hero (2021)

Hero is a barber in a small town in Karnataka. Heroine has ditched him and is married to a dreaded gangster. Villain is extremely cruel, sadistic, has an alligator for pet and commands a gang of brutal henchmen. When the frustrated hero gets an opportunity to enter the house of villain set in the middle of a vast estate, hoping to kill the heroine for ditching him, all hell breaks loose. Add a few more oddball characters like a zany cook, a petrified vet brought in to treat the alligator's loss of appetite and a henchman who is obsessed with hunting wild boars. Throw in a truckload of weapons from primitive clubs, knives in every size to guns and bombs which are used in stylized action set-pieces choreographed with gusto by Vikram Mor. What follows is a weird, whacky, bloody black comedy that takes us on a rollercoaster ride which is engaging to the most part.

The fact that the entire movie was made by a cast and crew of 24 members in the height of COVID lockdown makes it all the more appealing.

Rishabh is spot on as the bumbling barber; Ganavi provides the ideal foil as she brings the right amount of charm, guts and intrigue to her role. The rest of the cast who are also multitasking as miscellaneous crew members do a competent job.

Ajaneesh Loknath revs up the sequences adding an all new dimension to the movie with his pitch-perfect score as well as lilting songs while cinematographer Aravind Kashyap excels with his verdant visuals as well as the action sequences which are superlative.

Debutant director M Bharath Raj who has co-written this gem deserves kudos for delivering a deliciously dark comedy which could make Tarantino happy. He clearly holds the potential to become the latest addition to the celebrated club of the brave new wave of Kannada auteurs consisting of Pawan Kumar (Lucia), Anup Bhandari (Rangitaranga), Hemanth Rao (Godhibanna Sadharana Mykattu and Kavaludari) and the spectacular Shetty duo - Rakshit (Ullidavaru Kandante) and Rishabh (Kirik Party).