Bhavesh Joshi Superhero Follow On

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V For Vendetta introduced us to the concept of a masked hero who inspires copycat followers. Then there is Batman who knows that the whole of Gotham is corrupt and he's fighting a lonely war against a system and not individuals.

In Kick-Ass, a teenager aspires to be a superhero and circumstances lead him to become one. From fighting petty crimes Kick-Ass graduates to fighting organised crime. The film flirted with the concept of a common man being influenced by graphic novels and superhero movies to become a vigilante and Bhavesh Joshi Superhero sort of combines elements from all the above mentioned films and makes a case for a proper superhero origins film.

With Vikramaditya Motwane at the helm, one would be assured of the fact that he would stick to reality as much as possible. His superhero wouldn't be shooting laser from his eyes or flying across space. Care has been taken in detailing out the transformation of a common man into a vigilante. It doesn't happen overnight. It's an arduous passage filled with many pitfalls and is as much a test of will as it is of physical ability. Bones get broken, blood gets shed and tears are spilled before our hero turns super. And another thing made clear is that the vigilante is fighting the good fight for a reason. He is there for the long haul. It's not some frivolous project for him. And even afterwards, things don't change miraculously. Foes don't get defeated by magic. It remains a constant struggle.

Bhavesh Joshi (Priyanshu Painyuli), Rajat (Ashish Verma) and Sikander Khanna (Harshvardhan Kapoor) are three friends who long to bring about a change in the society. Ashish is turning his angst into a graphic novel and inspired by that, Bhavesh and Sikander start a website where they post videos commenting against low level corruption. They take to the streets wearing homemade masks and get a kick out of catching people openly urinating or cutting trees. Bhavesh starts taking it seriously and uncovers a plot where unscrupulous elements are drying up Mumbai's water supply. But he's way over his head on this and things steadily go downhill from there. His murder convinces Sikander to take up the mantle and carry on the crusade...

Motwane hasn't gone for obvious choices like Hrithik Roshan or Tiger Shroff to play the masked vigilante and instead has chosen an unknown entity in Harshvardhan Kapoor to play the role. Harsh has been offered a fresh start and he grabs it by both hands, easing into his character by stages and making it believable. He’s earnest in his portrayal, never going over the top in action or subsiding into melodrama in emotional scenes. Keeping it real is Motwane's mantra and the actor subscribes to it wholeheartedly. Another thing Motwane has done is to make the friendship between the three friends sound genuine. They fight, they crib but are ultimately there for each other. And their youthful naivete about changing the world one video post at a time sounds genuine as well. The only grouse is that Nishikant Kamat, who plays a corrupt politician and his gang of baddies look like stock villains. Given the scope of the film, we were hoping for something different than one-dimensional antagonists.

The action scenes don't look overtly choreographed and the cinematography lends a gritty touch to the film, a la Sin City. All-in-all, Bhavesh Joshi is Vikramaditya Motwane's braveheart attempt at creating a DC (not Marvel, as an in-joke explains, because it's darker) superhero movie. Now whether the Indian audience is ready for such stuff and whether it'll take to it is a big question Indeed...