Ghost

Ghost (Shivarajkumar) infiltrates the prison on a particular day and holds the prisoners hostage. His target, however, is corrupt CBI officer Vamana (Prashanth Narayan). Efficient police officer Chengappa (Jayaram) is immediately deputed to solve the issue. And thus begins the cat and mouse chase between an intelligent criminal and a ruthless police officer.

The movie revolves around Shivarajkumar and Jayaram with them passing the baton between each other about being right and wrong. The first half keeps you glued to the screens with character establishments, scene transitions and plenty of whistle-worthy moments. Ghost establishes itself strongly as a mass movie with both style and substance here. But, post intermission logic seems to take a backseat as the film drifts towards the climax. There are a couple of loose ends that are left untied.

Ghost is Shivarajkumar’s one-man show from start to end. The movie takes place in 48 hours, and abides by the gold-heist, action-thriller genre template. Though there is no scope for songs in the film, Arjun Janya’s background score lifts the mood. The theme music lingers on even after coming out of the theatre. Mahendra Simha’s camera work does leave an impact despite having a limited scope to explore.

Jayaram is aggressive, but also manages to make the audience chuckle with his sarcasm. Dattanna, Archana Jois, Anupam Kher’s cameos are worth mentioning. Prashanth Narayan is a good baddie. A self-declared Shivarajkumar fan, director MG Srinivas executes the “Big Daddy” vision he had for Shivarajkumar in style.

The de-aging scenes work best when the actor is mum. Once the character starts conversing, there is some inconsistency, with almost a dead-eye expression. Also, welcome to SCU; Srini’s Cinematic Universe. You not only get to meet Mahesh Das (main character from Birbal Trilogy), but also get to see a very big, interesting prelude to Ghost 2.

Ghost is a one-of-its-kind heist thriller for the Kannada audience, packed with plenty of mass scenes catered and assembled particularly for Shivarajkumar’s fans.