Badava Rascal Movie Review: Dhananjay is a relatable common man in this middle-class family drama

The tale of middle-class lives has been told umpteen times and so has the poor boy-rich girl romance. But Badava Rascal takes off from where many of such films left us. The story-telling is unique and so is the entire cast’s approach towards the film. It retains an earthly feel in most parts and never lets go of the core essence. Debutant director Shankar Guru looks promising with his style of filmmaking. And he seems to have great chemistry with actor Dhananjay, who turned first-time producer for the film, and also with other actors, which reflects on screen.

Cast: Dhananjay, Amrutha Iyengar, Nagabhushana NS, Rangayana Raghu, Tara, Poornachandra
Director: Shankar Guru

The story of Badava Rascal, a local slang, traces the life of Shankar, (Dhananjay) with a few touches of the lives of his friends, who become part of his pursuits. Shankar is a middle-class youth, son of an auto driver (Rangayana Raghu) and a doting mother (Tara). An MBA graduate, who enjoys every moment of life in the small-knit family and with his couple of few good friends, runs an auto as a part-time job and aims at owning a few.

Destiny hooks him to Sangeetha (Amrutha Iyengar), a politician’s daughter. They want to take their love to the next step and decide to spend life together. However, an incident distances the two, which also becomes the turning point in Shankru’s life. How he goes about mending his life is one part of the story. Will Shankru, with the help of his friends, succeed in meeting his love forms the crux of the story, which comes with a predictable ending.

This tale, reflecting middle-class values, strikes the right chord with the audience. Shankar Guru, who has deeply observed and understood the lives of middle-class lives, has brought out the experiences in his writing. With elements of drama, love, sentiments, action, and comedy -- all coming with some punch dialogues, Shankar manages to stay within the story and let the characters do the talking. However, the film, which becomes slow-paced at times, might test the patience of the audience.

Dhananjay, who often enjoys relating to the common man with his inspiring roles, has effortlessly portrayed the next-door middle-class youth’s character. Rangayana Raghu and Tara are the film’s soul. Amrutha justifies her role in the limited space. Nagabhusan, who plays Dhananjay’s good friend, appears throughout the film, and his light-hearted humour works. Poorna Chandra Mysore’s character will be appreciated by all.

The romance between Dhananjay and Amrutha is brought through the song Udupi Hotelu composed by Vasuki Vaibhav, who has also come up with a good mix of tracks. DOP Pretham Jayaram, who has brought in the local flavour, has managed to capture the emotions of each character up and close. As a film that explains middle-class life, love, relations, friendship, emotions…Badava Rascal turns out to be a class and mass entertainer