Police Quarters Movie Review

Simple, Sensible

Being realistic can often be very boring. Ask that horde of filmmakers who walk up the aisles of film functions to collect the awards for their allegedly realistic films which nobody would watch even to save their lives. But in Police Quarters, director A.M.R Ramesh comes up with a refreshingly realistic narration of the story and yet keeps you interested in the proceedings till the very end, making the film utterly watchable.

The strength of Police Quarters lies in its toned down narration and an honest effort that tries hard not to lose the credibility of the viewers. Of course, A.M.R Ramesh still yields to the commercial necessities such as a fight sequence where the hero bashes up a gang of rowdies who are patiently waiting their turn to be beaten up. But that’s almost immaterial as most of the film contains a narration that does not believe that you have to be fed nonsense to make you watch a film for two and half hours.

Police Quarters is the story of Ashwin (Anish) and Anita (Sonu) who cannot see each other eye to eye. But an incident at the time of Babri Masjid riots make them fall in love with each other and they are aided by their friend Raju (Dilip Raj). Obviously, there is opposition for this in both the houses for various reasons. The rest of the film is a continuation of this story made watchable by A.M.R Ramesh’s narration and some fantastic acting by the ladies brigade consisting of utterly likeable Sonu and delightfully ageless Sharanya.

Funnily, although A.M.R Ramesh’s style of narrating the film is refreshing, the story isn’t. The backdrop of Babri Masjid is just an excuse for the same old love story to unravel, which paves the way for more songs and emotional scenes. So, at many places, one can almost sense the mismatch between the story and narration which are as different as chalk and cheese. Had A.M.R Ramesh chosen a political thriller or any other type of story that complemented his style of down-to-earth storytelling, he could have scored better.

Among actors, Sonu wins the show hands down. She has lost some weight and gained some acting skills, which makes her bright smile increasingly lovelier. When you fuse these two with the girl-next-door looks, what you get is a namma Kannadada Hudugi who simply needs to be given more opportunities to hone her talents.

Anish is good, but can be better. While he is neat in the first half, the second half exposes his limitations as an actor, especially in highly emotional sequences. Old timer Sharanya still retains her dusky charm and that wonderful ability to emote through her eyes without saying much. Dilip Raj is first rate and one wonders what more this talented actor needs to do to get opportunities that match his talent.

On a whole, Police Quarters is a good beginning to the New Year. Nopes, this film is not the answer for the problems faced by KFI, which is reeling under losses at the moment; but it’s at least a good beginning that makes you look at the year ahead with lots of hope.

Bravo A.M.R Ramesh.

-Movie Review By Raju Shanbhag

Also See

• Police Quarters Movie Stills