The elusive quest for the true Indian superhero has been on in Indian Cinema for a while now.From Amitabh Bachchan to Hrithik Roshan to Tiger Shroff to Jeeva, every star has tried his luck in the genre with mixed results.Now Vikramaditya Motwane has teamed up with Anurag Kashyap to bring the first desi superhero, one without any actual powers and with a name that doesn’t get any “desier“.This is one superhero movie that is far removed from the Marvel and DC extravaganzas or even the Bollywoodish-to-core Krissh series and has more in common with the Nolan Batman trilogy in terms of basic approach to the theme.In fact this movie is not just about how an Indian Bruce Wayne sans an inheritance would be, but also an exercise in how close an Indian director can get to a global theme in Indian settings.I have to mention Mysskin’s Mukhamoodi here which can be considered a worthy predecessor to Bhavesh Joshi in more ways than one.
At a time when Hollywood and every major star over there is going nuts over reboots and sequels to every known superhero franchise, Harshvardhan Kapoor has taken a leap of faith in a movie that is Tezaab meets Mr.India, to draw a parallel with his father’s career.Though budget constraints have restricted the flight of the Indian superhero to a caricature in the past, Motwane tries to make up for lack of slickness with the trademark grit of the Motwane-Kashyap school of filmmaking.Bhavesh Joshi’s enemies are mostly issues that we have come to accept as realities in our daily lives, he doesn’t have a Mogambo or Thanos to deal with here.The vigilante in Bhavesh Joshi is driven by guilt and revenge rather than social causes ultimately.There are moments when Motwane pushes his creative envelope and takes some liberties which raises some questions on the plausibility of the events though such questions are surreal in this genre.But when its an origin story told with bare necessities and an ambition to stick to reality you tend to notice these flaws.Yes, I am talking about the hacking scene.
The movie has tried to stay relevant to the recent social media uprisings and the Jan Lokpal movements which Motwane has attributed the origins of the movie to.There are even references to the man with the jhadoo.Had the movie been made back when the Lokpal mania had been at its peak, it would have garnered more attention.People have moved on since, like with all issues on social media.Social media is a major weapon that Bhavesh Joshi Superhero relies on in his fight for justice.The movie has some goodlooking chase sequences and one scene particularly felt like a tribute to the footbridge sequence from Batman Begins.If you are looking for the Indian superhero to rave over, this is not it.This is more about the society we live in and the problems that we have accustomed ourselves to.Bhavesj Joshi is just a plot device that Motwane has used to tell that story.
gopakumarpurushothaman 