Film: “Police Quarters”;
Director: A.M.R. Ramesh;
Cast: Aneesh, Sonu, Dileep Raj and Avinash;
Music: James Vasanthan; Rating:**
Film: “Police Quarters”; Director: A.M.R. Ramesh; Cast: Aneesh, Sonu, Dileep Raj and Avinash; Music: James Vasanthan; Rating:**
“Police Quarters”, which has been directed by “Cyanide” fame A.M.R. Ramesh, is a realistic film and the story is told in a neat and realistic narrative style. But neither the story nor the narrative has any refreshing elements, disappointing viewers who had expected a lot from the film.
Ramesh’s “Cyanide” was realistic and a trend setter in the Kannada film industry. And the director had claimed that he had returned to the narrative style of “Cyanide” while making “Police Quarters”.
Being realistic can often be very boring. Ask that horde of filmmakers who walk up the aisles of film functions to collect the awards for their allegedly realistic films which nobody would watch even to save their lives. But in Police Quarters, director A.M.R Ramesh comes up with a refreshingly realistic narration of the story and yet keeps you interested in the proceedings till the very end, making the film utterly watchable.
The strength of Police Quarters lies in its toned down narration and an honest effort that tries hard not to lose the credibility of the viewers. Of course, A.M.R Ramesh still yields to the commercial necessities such as a fight sequence where the hero bashes up a gang of rowdies who are patiently waiting their turn to be beaten up. But that’s almost immaterial as most of the film contains a narration that does not believe that you have to be fed nonsense to make you watch a film for two and half hours.
Police Quarters is the story of Ashwin (Anish) and Anita (Sonu) who cannot see each other eye to eye. But an incident at the time of Babri Masjid riots make them fall in love with each other and they are aided by their friend Raju (Dilip Raj). Obviously, there is opposition for this in both the houses for various reasons. The rest of the film is a continuation of this story made watchable by A.M.R Ramesh’s narration and some fantastic acting by the ladies brigade consisting of utterly likeable Sonu and delightfully ageless Sharanya.
Funnily, although A.M.R Ramesh’s style of narrating the film is refreshing, the story isn’t. The backdrop of Babri Masjid is just an excuse for the same old love story to unravel, which paves the way for more songs and emotional scenes. So, at many places, one can almost sense the mismatch between the story and narration which are as different as chalk and cheese. Had A.M.R Ramesh chosen a political thriller or any other type of story that complemented his style of down-to-earth storytelling, he could have scored better.
Anita finally get married and Ashwin goes missing.
Dileep, who plays the role or Raju in the film, shines throughout the film. Newcomer Aneesh Tejeshwar makes a good debut and proves to be effective in his expressions and dialogue delivery.
Sonu, who showed promise in her first film “Inthi Ninna Preethiya”, has given a decent performance. Veteran artists Avinash and Sharanya are also good.
The camera work is very good and the fight sequences are well choreographed. James Vasanthan’s music is above average.
“Police Quarters” is a good one-time watch.
