Moodu Simhaalu Review

Don't bet that you'll ever escape me
Once I get my sights on you
Got a license to kill
And you know I'm going straight for your heart

- Gladys Knight, License To Kill, OST, License To Kill

It's unlikely these exact words might have crossed Ravi's mind to describe his feelings for his bete noire, for the feelings aren't exactly representative, but if you are a stunt man, you sure have some special privileges. Like that license, for instance. All the CM's men can't do what this dude in prison can, and so here's the government doling out a rather unusual one. Only, the license works on some innocent souls too - you and me.

Moodu Simhalu is a Kannada dub that stars Thriller Manju, that stunt man, as Ravi, a young man whose ambition is to be a police officer just as his late father had been. Ravi is manipulated into a vulnerable situation and sent to prison on a trumped up murder charge by Badshah, a mafia don who is trying to bring the nation to its knees with, like every movie villain these days worth his salt, the help of the ISI.

Now Alexander (Charles), the jailor, realizes Ravi's innocence and brings this to the notice of the Chief Minister. The CM is so impressed by Ravi, he decides to give him a license to kill to get at Badshah's goons, thus officially crowning him 007. Incidentally, here you get to know that the CM was a don himself before he migrated to the greener pastures of politics. That explains his belief in non-Gandhian measures.

Mr. Bond does a memorable cleanup job - in fact, he could have been called single punch Simham, the way he kills people with just one punch. Badshah starts running scared, and takes a whole hospital hostage and as ransom demands the release of all his aides in jail and a helicopter so he can fly off to Dubai. But how can he get away with Bond around? And hence Ravi, Alexander and Sultan (another police inspector, and these are the 3 lions, in case you didn't get it) storm the hospital and kill the villains after mouthing the regular dose of patriotic dialogues.

And now for the rest of this business. There isn't one element in this flick that's worth a mention. The direction is horrendous, and the cast must be put in an iron cast and sealed away forever. Thriller Manju is as thrilling as death, and you feel that all the other actors have been picked randomly off the streets and assigned roles.

The music is the best part; you find ripped versions of popular Hindi songs including Yamma, Yamma from Shaan, so at least you recognize something. Otherwise, the lyrics make you want to clutch your stomach and roll on the floor - in agony.

Don't get killed on this one - there's no redress, since this one is licensed.