Humble Politician Nograj: Good for voters and right in time for polls

Given the massive popularity of Danish Sait as an RJ, prankster and anchor, his debut as an actor and writer of Humble Politician Nograj, in collaboration with director Saad Khan, comes across as an ingenious product.

Cast: Danish Sait, Sumukhi Suresh, Vijay Chendoor, Srinivas Prabhu
Director: Saad Khan

A Kannada-English film, which is weaved as a political satire, involves a corporator, Nograj (Danish Sait), who often insists that he be addressed as ‘humble’. His rise in politics depends on the number of scams he gets involved in, and it includes his motive to get married to Lavanya (Sumukhi Suresh). Along with his sidekick Monjunath (Vijay Chendoor), he succeeds in all his ventures. Nograj pulls all strings to get an MLA ticket, but he finds opposition in the form of Arun Patil (Roger Narayan). USA return Arun tries to run a pharmaceutical business in the city, but is fed up with the day-to-day society related issues, which includes roads, traffic, power, and water facilities. He decides to take the lead to help the people and stands for the MLA position, supported by his wife (Sruthi Hariharan). During elections, will it be the ‘humble’ scamster Nograj who will be elected, or will the public choose a service oriented leader in Arun Patil? The climax also sees Puneeth Rajkumar in a blink-and-miss role.

Saad Khan features a series of gags involving Danish Sait, without making it boring, through his political satire, and keeping the character of Nograj in the forefront. His approach to spread awareness amongst people, and decide on who they choose as their leader is commendable. But it is expressed in a slow paced manner with repetitive scenes. The film would have been better with crisper editing although the director should be appreciated for a brave attempt with an unconventional subject, and for dealing with it with humour.

Danish Sait never fails to entertain. What is appealing is that he remains true to the character of Nograj – a sketch people have always adored. Here is an actor with whom one can find humour in the midst of serious issues, and he tackles it very well. His dialogues are inventive and his some of his signature Kanglish words sound fresh, irrespective how many times he repeats them. As for the rest of the cast, Vijay Chendoor has blindly followed the director’s vision, while Sumukhi Suresh seems to have understood the role of a housewife well. Roger Narayan is the perfect fit as Arun Patil, and he is well supported by Sruthi Hariharan along with Raghu Ramankoppa, Hanumanthe Gowda, Pramod Shetty, Srinivas Prabhu and Shiv Manju.

The background score by Sunny Henry is situational and blends with the story. Go watch Humble Politician Nograj not only for a fun ride, but also to get clarity about voting.