Language: Kannada
Director : Jayatheertha
Writer : Jayatheertha
Cast : Rishab Shetty
Genre: Comedy | Thriller
IMDb: Bell Bottom (2019)
Streaming on Voot.
Among South Indian film industries, Sandalwood is often criticised for the lack of quality, cliched storylines and approach. It was only after the release of KGF, that the industry got noticed at the pan-Indian level. After that several other quality films were made but most of them went unnoticed. The main reason could be the lack of marketing from their side. We can take examples of many films like Birbal Trilogy, Gantumoote, Kavaludaari etc. Bell Bottom is such a film that can be added to the list of above-mentioned films. It is quite beautiful with good story and screenplay.
Bell Bottom is a crime comedy thriller movie, which is set in the backdrop of 1980s when CCTVs were not popular and there was only minimal to negligible application of forensic science in Crime Investigation mainly due to ignorance. The film tells the story of Diwakar who wants to become a private detective. He was so influenced by detective films and stories that he used to read crime thriller books than his textbooks during his childhood. But his father was a Police officer and his aspiration of making his son a Police officer, shatters Diwakar’s dream of becoming a private detective. But his life takes a U-turn when a series of robberies take place in the neighbourhood police stations. The case comes into the hand of Diwakar, who was then a Police Constable. He takes that case as an opportunity and investigates it as a detective which make the crux of the story.
The film is a good quality thriller and the way they execute the theft in the police station is much appreciated because it is was very clever and there was no evidence to prove the theft. We may guess the antagonists but I assure you nobody can predict the twist until it is revealed. That is Film Direction at its best. Cinematography and Bgm keep the film in its pace. But the art direction and editing have to be specially commended for its effort and quality. The development of the story in the last 15 minutes, a romantic song and comic sequences at times were the only things that pull the film backwards. But overall it is a good thriller and the concept of robbery and its picturization is novel.
The film is written and directed by Jayatheertha and the titular role is played by Rishab Shetty. Achuth Kumar, who is famous for his negative role in Vikram Vedha, acted as Appanna, Diwakar’s father. All of them did justice to their roles. The film gathered good reviews and was a critical and commercial success. It is being remade in Tamil and Hindi under the same title.
Verdict: 6/7 Stars.
Brilliant.
