Bharat Talkieslo Bombu Review

It feels good when you see Indian directors and producers willing to experiment rather than stick to the beaten track. And you particularly like this movie because it's released in the same week that the hi-profile but exceptionally unimaginative and hackneyed Vamsi and Jayam Manadera have released. Bharat Talkieslo Bombu, a dubbed version of a 2-year-old Tamil movie titled Housefull (which, incidentally, received tax-free status in Tamilnadu), may not be excellent, but is without doubt a competent effort. It has been handled with some amount of finesse, and is more like a Hollywood flick.

Though you see a multitude of actors in the cast at the left, the story does not have either a hero or a heroine - it revolves around different characters trapped in a dangerous situation. It begins with the normal day-to-day routine of city life, and the focus is on Bharat Talkies, a theater where every movie runs to full houses. When information is received about a bomb in the theater, the suspense begins.

The arrival of the police, the bomb squad, the concern of the philanthropist owner and the tension and unrest that this incident creates in the city are all captured quite well. The entire movie is shot in the theater. The pressure that the police have to deal with and the expertise of the bomb squad has been shown in all practicality. How the situation is defused with tact, logic and an element of luck is only one part of the movie - the other is the brief glimpse that we get into the personal lives of the characters, from that of the commissioner to those of some persons in the crowd. The major focus is the dilemma of the owner who sacrifices his life to save those of his beloved patrons.

There are no songs (though the background score by Ilayaraja is good) or thrilling action, so it's pretty unlikely that the movie will be accepted by the masses, but the narration is brisk and the performance of the entire star cast is note-worthy. The movie could have been better, but it is a step in the right direction, and a few more ventures like this will definitely bring out the best in the director. A good movie that is worth a watch.