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N.K. Production House’s Banaras (dubbed from the Kannada film of the same name; UA) is a love story.
Sidharth (Zaid Khan) falls in love with Dhani (Sonal Monteiro) and, in a bid to woo her, tells her that he has come to her from the future, through time travel. Once she reciprocates his love, he wrongs her, because of which she breaks off from him and comes to Banaras. He follows her to apologise. In Banaras, he realises that strange things are happening to him. Does it have something to do with time travel?
Jayathirtha has penned an unusual story about time travel but it is very confusing. His screenplay in the first half is extremely boring. The wooing of the girl, the break-up and the efforts to reconcile are all so routine that the audience just doesn’t feel for the lovers. The post-interval portion has more drama but it is so confusing that the audience gets put off. Why scientist Narayan Shastry would experiment on Siddharth in particular is not explained. What’s more, the entire concept of time travel is so alien and has been explained in such a slipshod manner that it simply fails to have the desired impact. In fact, the repetitiveness of scenes to establish the point of time travel gets on the viewers’ nerves, more so because it is difficult to comprehend. If the love story lacks warmth, the comedy of Narayan Shastry and his wife, Rukmini Devi (Sapna Raj), falls flat on its face. Ditto for the comedy of Shambu (Sujay Shastry). Emotions are conspicuous by their absence. All in all, the screenplay is weak. Rajan Agarwal’s dialogues are routine.
Zaid Khan has a pleasant face and is quite endearing. He does a fair job in his debut film. Sonal Monteiro is average as Dhani. Achyuth Kumar is okay as Narayan Shastry. Sapna Raj is quite alright as Rukmini Devi. Devaraj lends ordinary support in the role of Sidharth’s father. Sujay Shastry (as Shambu) irritates more than entertaining. Barkath Ali’s acting (as Peter) is devoid of conviction. Others pass muster.
Jayathirtha’s direction is so-so. Even his narration is unable to make the confusing drama any less confusing. B. Ajaneesh Loknath’s music comprises one melodious number – Tere liye toh – and other average songs. His background music is so-so. Choreography (Jayathirtha and A. Harsha) is nothing to shout about. Advaitha Gurumurty’s camerawork is very good. Action and stunt scenes (by A. Vijay and Different Danny) are okay. K.M. Prakash’s editing leaves something to be desired. Dubbing is proper.
On the whole, Banaras will prove to be a complete non-starter and a flop.
Released on 4-11-’22 at Carnival Wadala (daily 2 shows) and other cinemas of Bombay thru Panorama Studios. Publicity: dull. Opening: poor. …….Also released all over. Opening was weak everywhere.