A non-conquering Chakravarthy

Direction: Chintan
Cast: Darshan, Deepa Sannidhi, Dinakar Thoogudeepa, Aditya, Shivadwaj, Srujan Lokesh, Sharath Lohitashwa, Kumar Bangarappa.
Rating: 2.5 stars

If for a moment you thought that Chakravarthy had something to do with the reincarnation of an emperor in the 80s or is based in Bengaluru for the fact that it is a sort of reunion of the blockbuster Saarathi film team including Chintan, who has written and directed this one, then you are in for a big surprise. Here, the director takes the audience back to those days (Aa Dinagalu) when Bengaluru was Bangalore with men wearing bell bottom pants and shirts with extra long collars were in fashion, and  Ambassadors and Fiat cars were seen on the city roads. It was an era which saw the emergence of the so-called underworld dons who would go on to become the most popular real dons repeatedly featured in several films including this one.

This one is quite challenging one as it involves Challenging Star Darshan himself donning the lead role. For a change, unlike some of the heroes who are so in love with their own stardom that they involve in self-aggrandisement in films too, Darshan is just an honest don and does complete justice to the character. That apart and the gorgeous lady Deepa Sannidhi’s more than a bit of cameo appearance, including the first scenes of Dinakar Thoogudeepa giving the feel of his legendary father late Thoogudeepa Srinivas, Chintan’s Chakravarthy barely conquers anything.

Picking the tale of a few underworld dons of Bangalore and reformatting it from ‘those days’ by highlighting one of the popular dons who later becomes a crucial part of the D company, before finally breaking away from it for a ‘national’ cause, proves to be an ordinary affair. The recreation of Bangalore, restricting it to a single street with the image of public utility in the backdrop, and using a few old vehicles makes no big difference. There is also a bar which usually plays the same old classic cabaret Kannada song.

Just like any other don who claims to be innocent, Shankar played by Darshan too, is a man with social concern. He later gets the support of police to finish off the reigning don who was troubling them and the city. The classic of using a thorn to get rid of another thorn is the crux. Darshan has poured his acting skills to his best, but largely the making of it and probably a similar film made in the past, which was quite impressive, spoils the fun of watching this one.