Arishadvarga

Plot: A quarry owner and film producer is found dead. Two unusual suspects are caught in the form of a gigolo and an aspirant actress. There's also the producer's young second wife who has her tale. What is the real deal?

Review: Arishadvarga, as the title suggests, is a subject that revolves around the six carnal desires of the human mind. The makers have positioned this as a neo noir narrative with a host of quirky characters around whom a tale of murder and deceit has been woven. The film has a clever narrative, but then translation on screen seems a tad too long, which holds it back from excelling like it should have.

The film begins in an edgy note with everything moving at a brisk pace. Though, the story soon decides to unravel at its own slow pace, which eventually becomes the Achilles heel. What could have been a racy thriller with a fair deal of clever humour and interesting characters ends up promising more than what eventually was delivered. But this does not take away the fact that Arishadvarga is still a well conceived film that is a breath of fresh air from the usual stories that one gets to see.

The human mind, which when put through situation that test its will, could easily give in to the more basic desires and let them get the better of reason. The fact that there is a saint and a sinner residing within each of us and it is during stressful situations that we see one of the two emerge victorious is what the film essentially shows with a tale that also touches on some uneasy truths in a metropolitan city.

While Arishadvarga has a beautiful soundtrack, this self indulgent soundtrack at times ends up being the biggest villain to the narrative. The many songs slow down the pace that the narrative took as it began. Though, one must add that each of those songs are earworms but somehow the story and the narrative come together in not the most symmetrical fashion.

When it comes to performances, Nanda Gopal as the investigating officer stands out. The rest of the cast has also been carefully selected and do justice. Be it Anju Alva Naik as the young second wife, Mahesh Bung as the gigolo, Samyukta Hornad as the aspiring actress, Avinash as the hot tempered quarry owner and producer or Gopal Krishna Deshpande as the pothead auto driver.

Arishadvarga is definitely a film that is worth a watch. It is novel, clever and quirky. It definitely teases your mind, but the narrative unravels in a little uneven pace.