Tagaru movie review: Another 'long' tale

Cast: Shivarajkumar, Dhananjay, Vashista Simha, Devaraj, Manvitha Harish, Bhavana
Director: Suri
Rating: 2.5 stars

Finally, this ‘long’ awaited movie hits the screens and there is blood everywhere. Literally. Restricted to adult audiences only, director Suri does a routine mash-up of his trademark inspired by Pulp Fiction. But for a change, it is in reverse mode. The movie runs for a total of 128 minutes and a few seconds. At least 100 minutes of this tale is a test for the audience to connect the dots which unfortunately the director has left wide open for discourse.

It is an underworld saga with a few ruthless and inhumane anti-social elements running the show, under a namesake who is brilliant and a highly connected leader. One of the few plus points of this Ram (a male sheep) tale is the brilliant portrayals of the antagonist — the versatile Dhananjay and the protagonist, Shivanna who is naturally at his best, as always. No doubt, it is a treat for Shivanna fans to see him in a khadak avatar as a cop who comes with an added attraction — his most-loved on-screen action weapon, the machete or long, (in local rowdy lingo). This time, he holds it differently, which is better watched than explained!

With a new face as a villain in action (Dhananjay), Shivanna is on a ‘long’ hunt, but with different stories in the beginning, middle and in between the climax, it’s tough to decipher! More confusion ensues as several characters appear every now and then, making it hard, harder and hardest to stay with the “going everywhere” storyline.

The beautiful Manvitha Harish essays the role of a drug addict, who is shown being taken care of and driven around, with a couple of songs for respite. There is Dolly (Dhananjay) and his partner Chitte (Vashista) going on a rampage killing men at ease. Meanwhile, there is a cockroach problem too! This spree of killing everywhere with innocents being targetted before the hunters gett hunted is a bit much to watch. Despite being technically brilliant, Suri falters at delivering what is most essential in a tale of this nature — a gripping thriller. Go watch it for Shivanna and Dhananjay, a deadly combination who make the most of the killing! Hope the sequel to Tagaru, which has already been announced does not make the audience wait till the end for a sense of ‘reel’ity.