Bheemasena Nalamaharaja
Ratings: 3/5
Duration: 02 Hrs 02 Mins
Director: Karthik Saragur
Writer: Karthik Saragur
Produced By: Pushkara Mallikarjunaiah, Hemanth M. Rao, Rakshit Shetty
Genre: Drama
Release Date: 29 October 2020
Language: Kannada
Streaming Platform: Amazon Prime
Star Cast: Aravinnd Iyer, Achyuth Kumar, Arohi Narayan, Priyanka Thimmesh, Punith Achar, Amaan, Meese Anjanappa, Sandhya Arakere, Arya, Vijay Chendoor, Dayanand, Vinod Divakar, Manas Gabriel, Jeevan Gangadariah, Gangadhar, Praveen Kumar Gasti, Prerana Gopal, Tushar Gowda, Lakshmi Karanth, Pooja Kashyap, Koushik, Jayanth Kumar, Lalitha, Nana Mohan, Bharath Raj, Ranganath, Karthik Sharma, Sudhakar Sharma, Narayana Swamy, Chitrali Tejpal, Anil Tiptur, Bharath Tumkur, Aadya Udupi, Vishwas
Plot: The film features Aravinnd Iyer playing the role of Latthesha, a passionate cook in a resort, named Naadimoola, by the countryside. He is an orphan, who dreams of his mother cooking, and it is his longing for good food that ends up as a fondness for cooking.
He meets Priyanka Thimmesh, playing the role of a 20s something Sarah Mary, a caretaker who is quite content being a companion to the elderly, in an old-age home in a metropolis. It is when she is asked to go on a mini-sabbatical, to experience life in greater depth, reluctantly, Sarah heads to the Naadimoola resort, as a guest. There the dishes cooked by the chef Latthesha catches her attention.
Sarah and Latthesha strike a rapport and over a conversation, the latter ends up telling her his love story with Arohi Narayan, who is donning the role of a food-loving rebellious girl Vedavalli Varadarajan. She, on the other hand, had a problematic childhood because of her eccentric, short-tempered father, Varadarajan, played by Achyuth Kumar.
Fate brings Latthesha and Vedavalli together and they both marry each other, which Varadarajan disapproves of. However, they lead a happy life until fate plays another game, and Vedavalli meets an accident to undergo serious brain damage and loses all her memories. The heart-warming attempts that Latesha makes to bring Vedavalli back to her senses form the rest of the story.
Review: After Law and French Biriyani, which were released in June 2020 and July 2020 respectively, Amazon Prime has released another Kannada film today - Bheemasena Nalamaharaja, directed by Karthik Saragur. The filmmaker had made a mark with his critically acclaimed award-winning debut - Jeerjimbe, and this is his second venture.
The film uses food as its base for the narrative and layers it with multiple emotions that add to the different twists and turns of the story but feels slightly bloated. As the construction of these layers seems a little jagged, one might think the story could have been a tad shorter. For instance, when the tragedy to occur was revealed in the trailer itself, it could have been brought up sooner rather than dragging the first half. Few scenes seem unnecessary in the second half as well. However, the screenplay is successful enough to keep the viewer interested in the story.
The film sports solid performances by its cast. The three lead actors, Aravinnd Iyer, Aarohi Narayan, and Priyanka Thimmesh surely have put in a lot of effort that translates on screen. Achyuth Kumar as the Hitler-like father gives a good performance too!
Unfortunately, few performances act as the downside for the movie as they over-perform in many scenes, which ultimately disturbs the experience a little.
And as far as the technical aspects of the film are concerned, cinematographer Ravindranath T brings us a visual treat here. Since cooking is an important element in the plot, there are lots of masterfully crafted cooking and food shots that will surely make the viewer drool for a second.
Music by Charan Raj definitely deserves a mention as it lifts the narrative, and there are some tunes that linger in the mind. He also wins in his background score as it is soothing and gives a tender touch to this tale of love.
Overall, Bheemasena Nalamaharaja is slightly overcooked, yet the story has a lot of emotions in-store and can prove to be an engaging one-time watch!
