image source, Bagasuran teaser
Actors: Selvaraghavan, Natty, Radharavi, Tarakshi, Devadarshini; Music: Sam C.S.; Directed by: Mohan G.
Bhagasooran is directed by Mohan G who directed Old Vannarappet, Thirelapathi and Rudra Thandavam. With Mohan ji’s previous films creating a lot of buzz for their caste-based vision, this film was also highly anticipated.
A young woman publishes nude videos at the insistence of her boyfriend. After that he is forced into sex work. At one point the marriage is arranged at the girl’s house. Then, the gang of sex workers threatens the woman. Due to this the woman commits suicide. His stepfather Arul Varman (Natti), a retired major, comes to know about this. When she investigates about it, it seems that many women are similarly trapped. To rescue them, he searches for a similarly afflicted father. At the same time, Bhimarasu (Selvaragavan), a street artist, is taking revenge on those responsible for the death of his daughter, who is studying in a college in Perambalur, after being sexually assaulted and committing suicide. Both meet at a point. What happens after this is the rest of the story.
The film is currently receiving rave reviews in the media. In the criticism published by the website of Dinamani newspaper, it has been criticized that “If women are in order, everything will be fine, ‘Bahasuran’ has lifted the old inscription that women are honorable and has told women to carry all the burdens of honor and morality.”
“‘Bahasuran’ is born from a thought of 50 years ago. After many centuries, women have come out from their hearths and started learning. ‘Bahasuran’ is a story written by someone who saw this with anxiety. The director who says that women should be protected, the irony of doing obscene dance in the film is obvious. There is a line that says that people living in Chennai have become people living abroad. “It is necessary to study in the city”, “Namma Pullainga Rumukkullula Ena Pannurangankullu Namma Pulainga Rumkukulula Ena Pannurangankannu Pansanganum” and such lines continue throughout the film.
The film’s logic falters at many places. Nutty, a retired major, runs around looking for evidence. Selvaraghavan has been carrying out successive murders. What does the police do in between? The first half of the film is quite watchable even though the dialogues are somewhat backward. But, the second half is just the opposite. If the aim is to prevent women from engaging in sex work on the Internet, the real reason can be investigated. But the director has placed love and the women claimants in the criminal cage as if they were supporting the sex industry.
image source, Bagasuran teaser
‘Bahasuran’ stumbles as a result of not focusing on the screenplay and dragging his personal political opponents into the story. Radharavi appears in a scene at the beginning of the film. He talks about women’s rights. We’ll leave it up to you to guess how he’ll be portrayed later. ‘Bahasuran’ portrays even small things like bringing a male friend home and using cell phones as dangerous. There is a song in the movie that shows father daughter affection. In which Selvaraghavan’s daughter will squeeze his leg. If it had been like that, the director would not have had any problem.
Instead of punishing the criminals who take obscene pictures and threaten women, everything will be fine if women are orderly, women are honourable, ‘Bahasuran’ has asked women to bear all the burdens like honor, morals, etc., etc. Speaking at the end of the film, Selvaraghavan talks about cell phones and scientific discoveries as dangerous. After that, Natty tells us to keep an eye on our children. Let the women come out. Let education learn. “Don’t make their bodies look more dangerous and wait for them to dig holes in their paths,” criticized Dinamani newspaper’s review.
‘Bahasuran’, which begins with expectations, did not kill the enemies due to logical errors, conservatism and confusion in the opinion taken, the criticism of the Hindu Tamil Vektik newspaper said.
The film shows the great effort of the director Mohan.ji to create awareness among the young children by saying that ‘Android mobile and dating apps are dangerous’. The director has not spared any political symbols in this film like the murders at the beginning of the film, the scenes that show Natty’s intelligence, on the other hand ‘Mango Call Taxi’, a politician with a fatherly title, using Perambalur as the plot.
image source, Bagasuran teaser
The film, which starts briskly at the beginning, loses momentum after a point due to its lapses in logic. The story revolves around the suicide of two female students, but the reasons behind their suicides are weak and do not stick. So the emotional scenes are not much helped. Similarly, the action scenes in the film are artificial. In the first half of the film, dating apps are the cause of the problems, and in the second half of the film, the focus is on another issue without talking about it. ‘Chennai Pondicherry or not? They are like white people there. What is the director trying to establish with the line ‘perambalurlana padi ma…’?
The reason why the obscene dance was included in the film, which is a class on protecting women, is not known. Besides, in one part of the film, which is said to be about women’s awareness, Selvaraghavan, who hesitates to go to the police station against an obscene video, energizes his opponent by spewing reactionary lines like ‘This is a matter of honor, if the video is released, it will be a shame for us’.
Is it fair to make ‘Bahasuran’, a ‘women’s awareness’ film, when films like ‘Anal Mele Banithuli’ aim to break this and put criminals in cages..? It is debatable to point out that it is all because of the advent of Android phones, that its use is dangerous, and that parents should monitor their children as a solution,” criticized the online review of the Hindu Tamil Vektrik.
“Mohan ji’s films have always been controversial for their storylines. The freedom of raising children has been present in his previous films as well. This Bhagasuran is another extension of the social issues he wants to touch on,” says the Times of India review.
image source, Bagasuran teaser
“The idea of youth safety and how technology is exploiting their lives is right to some extent, but at one point it becomes mere propaganda. And it is presented with a half-witted view, without any understanding of the socio-economic issues related to technology. For example, children use mobile phones. This movie says that parents should be careful about using it, but it cannot be fully accepted as it takes away the child’s freedom to know things.
One of the good things about this film is that it conveys the message that teenagers should be open with their parents. Could have said it better. It can also be emphasized that if the parents are more forward-thinking then mutual respect and understanding will develop between parent and child.
As for the screenplay, it’s pretty straightforward. Despite being a detective thriller, many scenes are predictable. But the character creations and backgrounds have improved compared to the director’s previous films. But since the screenplay is straightforward, even many of the big moments don’t make an impact. We do not end up with Bhima Rasu who keeps killing for his daughter.
The length of the film is also a bit too long. But the impact of this film is minimal,” says Times of India.
Overall, while the first half of the film is somewhat interesting, many reviews point out that the second half is somewhat boring. Besides, the use of mobile phones and campaigns telling only women to be modest have also come under criticism.
But in terms of cinematography, all the reviews have pointed out that this film is better than Mohan ji’s previous films.
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