For people like me who have no idea about the stardom enjoyed by Kannada heroes in Karnataka, it is the number of self-referential dialogues or the “build-up” dialogues by supporting actors that do the trick. And after watching Pavan Wadeyar’s Natasaarvabhowma, I can fathom the level of stardom Puneeth Rajkumar enjoys in his industry.
He plays a multi-faceted journalist, who basically is a photojournalist, but also takes interviews, and writes articles across multiple beats: a true new media journalist. This also leads to more build up dialogues, even by the likes of yesteryear actor Saroja Devi, who talks about the Rajkumar legacy, and allows Puneeth to look triumphantly at the camera. But, to be honest, Puneeth does make it seem all convincing, especially since it is clear that he is very much in on the references. For example, there’s the mandatory introductory song where his dance skills are put on display. Even as his fellow dancers sing his praise, he keeps a straight face throughout, taking it all in without flinching, and towards the end of the song, looks at the camera and talks about his motherland of Karnataka. As I said earlier, it helps in figuring out the kind of star Puneeth Rajkumar is.
The wafer-thin plotline of Natasaarvabhowma revolves around a haunted house, Puneeth getting possessed by a ghost, and taking on powerful villains like Central minister and Shashi Tharoor-lookalike Ghanshyam Yadav (Ravishankar). Despite being the primary antagonist, it is Ravishankar’s comic timing that is impressive. It also points to how the character has been written, and that is why you don’t exactly feel Puneeth is up against a worthy adversary. Talking about comedy, Chikanna is a riot, and so is Sadhu Kokila, who shines in his limited screentime.
The whys, whats, hows, and wheres of Natasaarvabhowma are not exactly novel, and Pavan doesn’t try too hard either. This lackadaisical approach is disconcerting, especially with the horror elements in the film. Even the basic jump scares fall flat, which in turn weakens extended portions of the film. The other weak point of the movie is the lack of fleshed out supporting characters. While I do understand that Natasaarvabhowma is nothing more than a star vehicle, it would surely have been better with a few strong supporting roles, and surely one less heroine. I have often wondered the reasoning behind star vehicles having multiple heroines just for the sake of it. Though Rachita Ram as Sakshi tries her best to salvage a shoddily written role, she adds nothing to the film, apart from shaking a leg with Puneeth in one of my favourite songs from the D Imman album, Yaaro Naanu.
On the other hand, Anupama Parameswaran does make a decent debut in Kannada cinema, and it is her scenes with Puneeth that actually stand out in the film. Actually, all the scenes in Kolkata are refreshing. Be it the well-shot montage sequences in the Taaja Samachara number, or the candid humour in the dialogue exchanges between Gagan and Shruthi, Natasaarvabhowma suddenly felt like a completely different film, and I was genuinely distraught when the proceedings shifted back to Bengaluru.
The Power Star does all the heavy lifting in the film, and despite having a number of able actors in the film, the writing doesn’t allow any of them to lend a hand. While Puneeth does manage to keep the film afloat, there is only so much he can do. The proverbial twist in the tale, though not novel by any means, worked for me because Puneeth delivered it with a heady mix of cockiness and self-assurance. However, after the twist was revealed, I couldn’t help but get reminded of a star vehicle of a different, and more effective kind, which released in 2018. To not ruin the surprise, I’ll refrain from naming the Telugu/Tamil bilingual.
Natasaarvabhowma seems to be happy being just a star vehicle, which doubles up as a showreel for Puneeth Rajkumar. And on that front, and that front alone, Natasaarvabhowma works like a charm, but otherwise, less said, the better.
Avinash Ramachandran 