Seetharam Benoy: Case No. 1: Kannada Movie review: a slow burn thriller!

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 To be frank, we watched this movie randomly, as it looked interesting. And we're glad we did! The movie is directed by Deviprasad Shetty sir and features Vijay Raghavendra (his 50th film), Ninasam Sreeharsha Gobhatt, Devi Prakash, Sathwik Hebbar and Bindu Raxidi. Bonus = there are 0 songs. Yes, that's right. This is a crime thriller involving cops and a serial killer, and another level of characters, which makes this story so innovative. The story and acting carries the movie all along.


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Initially this movie looked to be quite predictable. You'll be like "ok, I feel x and y is going to happen next:" and you might be right. This is the rabbit hole the narration wants to take us through. Vijay plays the thinking cop, who goes beyond the superficial and dives into the meta - level information which makes the story so good. He makes use of the resources available to him to the best possible extent. 

When you feel you have everything figured out, you might notice, that more than 1.5 hours of the movie is still remaining so we were like WTF is going on?! Then come the weird, unexplained scenes, teasing of new characters and the twist. After this initial phase, the movie keeps you guessing till the end.

The reason we liked this movie is because it is so natural. There is no fluff. Cinema is nice when it mirrors reality and when the core, the story is good.

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The casting is superb ! And acting is tight all round. Vijay's is the main character and he does a great job.  The BGM keeps you glued to the screen. The supporting characters, cops and robbers have done a good job as well. The initial jerky camerawork gets better and the editing is also good, save a few places where it feels too choppy. The direction and screenplay are superb, and you're glued to your seats. All - round superb acting by everyone here. 

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Not so good: camera is very unsteady in the start. Frankly, it is very disorienting. I do not know what was the intent here, but it gets better later. Also, there is no emotional connect with the cop's wife. There are just 2 meaningful scenes. This could have been improved, so that the audience would have connected better with this character and his drive to solve the cases.

This movie is a slow burn so don't expect the usual over - the top dialogues, flying cars and stuff. If you like good, realistic thrillers, you should not miss this one.

What are your thoughts about this movie?

(Thanks, Krips, for the insights and for proofreading ;) )

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