Kishore Productions’ James (dubbed from the Kannada film of the same name; UA) is a crime thriller. Underworld don Vijay Gayakwad (Srikanth) hires Santhosh Kumar (Puneeth Rajkumar) as his bodyguard. However, the very person hired for his safety proves a major threat to Vijay’s life when Santhosh Kumar kidnaps Vijay and his sister, Nisha. Santhosh Kumar then reveals his identity. He says, he is James. What is the past story of James and why did he target Vijay Gayakwad?
Chethan Kumar has penned a story and screenplay which are not too novel. The protector turning against his subject and actually becoming a threat has been the subject matter of earlier films. Dialogues are so-so.
Puneeth Rajkumar shines in the title role. He is equally good in stunts and in scenes requiring acting skills. Priya Anand does well as Nisha. Srikanth (as Vijay Gayakwad) acts ably. Anu Prabhakar is alright. R. Sarathkumar lends good support. Mukesh Rishi makes his presence felt. Hareesh Peradi, Tilak Shekar, Aditya Menon, Rangayana Raghu, Avinash, Sudha Kokila, Chikkanna, Suchendra Prasad, Shine Shetty, Vajragiri and the others provide fair support.
Chethan Kumar’s direction is quite nice. Charan Raj’s music is okay but the songs will not appeal much to the Hindi film-going public. Swamy J. Gowda’s camerawork is appealing. Action and stunt scenes are thrilling. Deepu S. Kumar’s editing could’ve been sharper. Dubbing is okay.
On the whole, James is an ordinary fare with dull chances at the Hindi box-office.
Released on 18-3-’22 at Gem (daily 2 shows) of Bombay thru Panorama Studios. Publicity: dull. Opening: quite good.