Banaras (2022) User Reviews

Banaras, First Movie to explore the Time Loop Concept in Kannada Cinema

[Vashista-Bhat · 7/10 · 19 May 2023]

First time in the history of Kannada Cinema, a movie is being made on the concept of Time Loop, so the script is unique compared to the current general movies that is being made in Kannada Cinema. The debutant Zaid Khan has got a great potential. Performances of Achyuth Kumar and Devaraj is good.

Screenplay of Banaras is slow in the first half, but picks up quite well in the second half, and good direction from Jayatheertha. Storytelling and narration is somewhat good. Couple of songs are very good, while one song is pathetic.

The way in which characters are developed in Banaras could be improved significantly, but since this is the first time loop movie in Kannada Cinema, I will not criticize it. Editing and cinematography is fine.

Out of the couple of songs that have come out well, one of them is a Folk song, Hennu Hadeyalu Beda. Also Sujay Shastry portrays the character who is a fan of Dr. Rajkumar, the God of Kannada Cinema. Those scenes which talk about Dr. Rajkumar adds a real charm to this film. Overall give it a try, it won't disappoint you.

My Rating: 7/10 Verdict: Good.

excellent

[saazarocks · 10/10 · 18 November 2022]

Jayatheertha's Banaras sees Sonal Monteiro and Zaid Khan as the lead pair in a romantic narrative that is far away from mainstream romance. The film has a kick of sci-fi elements like time travel, loops, light speed, etc. Frankly, we have seen these theories of a time loop where the protagonist is trapped in a loop and gets more chances to change the events that have happened to him/her. From a decent film like "Groundhog Day" (1991) to artistic films like "Run Lola Run" (1998), romantic thrillers like "Mirage" (2018), and a recent one like "Manaadu" (2021), there are many films made on the same theme, with different conflicts, of course. Singeetam Srinivasa Rao's "Aditya 369" (1991) changed the definition of time travel films for the Telugu industry and, to some extent, for Indian cinema. After making a fantastic crime thriller like "Bell Bottom" (2019), Jayatheertha chose this topic of romantic drama along with a time-loop thriller, which is quite messy. The motive seems so lost in its own theories that you even wonder why and how it ended like that. For what?

Banaras is about a B. SC. Student named Sidharth (Zaid Khan), who accepts a challenge from his friends to make a simple girl named Dhani (Sonal Monteiro) fall in love with him. Sidharth meets her, tells some spicy story of time travel and a future return, and gets into her bedroom. The picture he shares goes viral, leading an embarrassed Dhani to leave the town and go back to Banaras. Sidharth then decides to take redemption and make things up for Dhani by going to Banaras. There they actually fall in love, only to experience some horrible time-loop events. Will Sidharth manage to break this cobweb?

Banaras is about 160 minutes long, and that's why it looks unnecessarily stretched. Till the intermission point, it remains just a simple rom-com with all the outdated scenes that you have seen in almost every romantic drama of the 80s and 90s. Then, the second half drives you crazy for a while with those intricate time loop events, only to leave you lost at the end. The climax of the film has gone terribly wrong. There may not be any time-loop films with such a simple and weak climax. In the first meeting, Sidharth tells an interesting but confusing story to Dhani that reminds you of Christopher Nolan's "Interstellar" (2014), and then the second half reminds you of Doug Liman's "Edge of Tomorrow" (2014), starring Tom Cruise. There's nothing in the first place, and then there is a big disappointment in the climax.

Zaid Khan has just begun his career, and he shows promising signs, if not completely good ones. The character of Sidharth was tough dish, but he cooked decent food of his own. He could have improved on many things, though, such as expressions, tension, variations, complexity, and shades of personality. Sonal Monteiro is far better, though. She looks gorgeous, and she performs well too. Her character doesn't have as many shares as Zaid's, but still, she did a fine job. Sujay Shastry, Devaraj, Sapna Raj, and Achyuth Kumar have some irritating scenes that you wish were not there, but overall they are watchable. The acting unit could have lifted the weak screenplay, but it seems that they were not much interested in doing so.

Coming to the technical aspects, the visuals and editing are far better than what you'd expect. The time loop scenes are well shot, edited, and presented with a good background score. The same goes for music, which comes out surprisingly well. It slows the speed of the film, though, and "Maaya Gange" leaves you somewhat mesmerized. All thanks to the melodious composition of B. Ajaneesh Loknath and the sweet voice of Armaan Malik (Hindi version). Jayatheertha's attempt to create different romance faultlines at the basic level of writing. I couldn't really make out what he was trying to say. He was trying to tell a romantic story, a time-loop thriller, a sci-fi experiment, or a philosophy of life? What does it tell us at the end? Nothing out of it. He should have grabbed only one or two topics out of those 4 or 5 he tried, and then, in my opinion, the same story would have looked better than what it does now. The beautiful locations and tour of Banaras are already available on YouTube; why would anybody want to see them in the film? Even Jayatheertha knew it, and yet he made this film. Wow! Anyways, as a whole, Banaras is a wanna-be complex romantic drama trapped by its own messy storyline. Just a few good scenes here and there, that's all; there is nothing beyond it.

RATING - 4/10*

Jayatheertha's Time Loop Romance Is Lost In Its Own Scientific Theories.

[SAMTHEBESTEST · 4/10 · 4 November 2022]

Banaras (2022) : Movie Review -

Jayatheertha's Banaras sees Sonal Monteiro and Zaid Khan as the lead pair in a romantic narrative that is far away from mainstream romance. The film has a kick of sci-fi elements like time travel, loops, light speed, etc. Frankly, we have seen these theories of a time loop where the protagonist is trapped in a loop and gets more chances to change the events that have happened to him/her. From a decent film like "Groundhog Day" (1991) to artistic films like "Run Lola Run" (1998), romantic thrillers like "Mirage" (2018), and a recent one like "Manaadu" (2021), there are many films made on the same theme, with different conflicts, of course. Singeetam Srinivasa Rao's "Aditya 369" (1991) changed the definition of time travel films for the Telugu industry and, to some extent, for Indian cinema. After making a fantastic crime thriller like "Bell Bottom" (2019), Jayatheertha chose this topic of romantic drama along with a time-loop thriller, which is quite messy. The motive seems so lost in its own theories that you even wonder why and how it ended like that. For what?

Banaras is about a B. SC. Student named Sidharth (Zaid Khan), who accepts a challenge from his friends to make a simple girl named Dhani (Sonal Monteiro) fall in love with him. Sidharth meets her, tells some spicy story of time travel and a future return, and gets into her bedroom. The picture he shares goes viral, leading an embarrassed Dhani to leave the town and go back to Banaras. Sidharth then decides to take redemption and make things up for Dhani by going to Banaras. There they actually fall in love, only to experience some horrible time-loop events. Will Sidharth manage to break this cobweb?

Banaras is about 160 minutes long, and that's why it looks unnecessarily stretched. Till the intermission point, it remains just a simple rom-com with all the outdated scenes that you have seen in almost every romantic drama of the 80s and 90s. Then, the second half drives you crazy for a while with those intricate time loop events, only to leave you lost at the end. The climax of the film has gone terribly wrong. There may not be any time-loop films with such a simple and weak climax. In the first meeting, Sidharth tells an interesting but confusing story to Dhani that reminds you of Christopher Nolan's "Interstellar" (2014), and then the second half reminds you of Doug Liman's "Edge of Tomorrow" (2014), starring Tom Cruise. There's nothing in the first place, and then there is a big disappointment in the climax.

Zaid Khan has just begun his career, and he shows promising signs, if not completely good ones. The character of Sidharth was tough dish, but he cooked decent food of his own. He could have improved on many things, though, such as expressions, tension, variations, complexity, and shades of personality. Sonal Monteiro is far better, though. She looks gorgeous, and she performs well too. Her character doesn't have as many shares as Zaid's, but still, she did a fine job. Sujay Shastry, Devaraj, Sapna Raj, and Achyuth Kumar have some irritating scenes that you wish were not there, but overall they are watchable. The acting unit could have lifted the weak screenplay, but it seems that they were not much interested in doing so.

Coming to the technical aspects, the visuals and editing are far better than what you'd expect. The time loop scenes are well shot, edited, and presented with a good background score. The same goes for music, which comes out surprisingly well. It slows the speed of the film, though, and "Maaya Gange" leaves you somewhat mesmerized. All thanks to the melodious composition of B. Ajaneesh Loknath and the sweet voice of Armaan Malik (Hindi version). Jayatheertha's attempt to create different romance faultlines at the basic level of writing. I couldn't really make out what he was trying to say. He was trying to tell a romantic story, a time-loop thriller, a sci-fi experiment, or a philosophy of life? What does it tell us at the end? Nothing out of it. He should have grabbed only one or two topics out of those 4 or 5 he tried, and then, in my opinion, the same story would have looked better than what it does now. The beautiful locations and tour of Banaras are already available on YouTube; why would anybody want to see them in the film? Even Jayatheertha knew it, and yet he made this film. Wow! Anyways, as a whole, Banaras is a wanna-be complex romantic drama trapped by its own messy storyline. Just a few good scenes here and there, that's all; there is nothing beyond it.

RATING - 4/10*

Beautiful blend of two subjects - love story and mystery of time travel

[chutkiv · 9/10 · 30 November 2022]

The way Jayatheertha has brought together a blend of two subjects - love story and mystery of time travel - is beautiful. Showing bananas in such grandeur, makes this film unique. Jayatheertha makes movies that can be watched as a family.

Zaid as a new comer looks good on screen, has a decent response to a seasoned director jayatheertha's coaching.

Jayatheerta has always tried directing different genre of movies, and stands out for the fact that he makes movies that families can enjoy together.

Songs are catchy and art director has done a great job. We watched the movie with friends and it was fun.

Overall, Very good job by jayatheertha and team!!

A complete disaster!

[manirajaveeramreddy · 1/10 · 9 November 2022]

Firstly I would like to mention about the poor screenplay which made this film a successful disaster. The story narration is horrible. The acting skills of the hero is so great that the small character artists can do give better expressions than him. The scenes were not related to each other at all. The songs just come out of non sync. The movie had copied scenes of some of the hit movies 🤣. Overall i wanna give a zero rating for this as it's not possible I'm giving it a 1 rating if any movie lover like me wants to see this movie to my fellow brothers and sisters pls remember a caution do watch at your own risks 😑

First time In Kannada A time Traveller

[umerubsf · 10/10 · 4 November 2022]

The first Ever Time travel Sci fi Movie....

The movie is Fantastic The new comer Does excellent job and the punch Dailogues are Mass... HEROINE looks Stunning Back ground Music ajaneesh Has done great work... Action is very nice over All movie very Good All the very Best to team !!

Jaya teertha has done Nice Direction... Over Movie is Very Nice it's a great Platform for a newcomer Like Zaid !! His Voice has dubbed by Some else but still looks original !!

!! The Time Has changed the Era has begun !!

Our Kannada Our Pride !!

It's the time To Rule the Kannada film in Country !!

A 2500 Old Language is Getting Recognised In 2022 !!

Dhoom 4 starring Race 3's Sikander.

[chand-suhas · 2/10 · 20 June 2023]

I am going with this harsh rating solely for the misleading premise and that terrible final twist which undid any limited positive aspect this movie tried to have and that one good romantic song which was well shot too. I always had an issue with the final act of Jayathirtha's and it took a drastic turn to worse this time. As far as the movie go, the premise has nothing to do with what was promoted and at the core, remains a silly love story.

To share the spoiler, the movie tries to be a time travel based one until it's not and turns into a time loop one, again until it decides it isn't. What it does try to be is a love story with somewhat passable lead actors, supported with credible cinematography and music. Needless to say, Sujay Shastry once again shines in an forgettable venture. The screenplay barring those time loop shenanigans, is pretty ordinary one with the hero trying to get heroine to forgive his mistake. It is "okay" as long it sticks to that script.

Anything else, simply shows the lack of good writing as the story moves forward aimlessly, only the crash and burn thanks to that awful reveal in the end, rendering the movie utterly pointless.

Jayathertha sir expiriments are always treat to watch

[fjamadar · 10/10 · 4 November 2022]

1st half u will fall in love, 2nd half is what is was expecting i got, jayathertha sir is always know for his expirimental movies, fell in love those two song, sanjith Hegde's belakin, another one byasagi diwasak a mother sentiment song, makes u cry, must watch movie and 80% of movie is in Banaras Don't think about negetive comments, just go and watch, and i was all ready watched Manadu Tamil movie, but its defferent, litterlly u will enjoy.

And who all saying boycott let's take look and it's not about a movie is did any MLA kid, zaid Khan acting u will enjoy thoroughly, You will enjoy definitely, just go yaar.

9.3 rating is not correct, because there are only 7 ratings and they are all by actors Friend.

[WarDaddy11 · 1/10 · 18 December 2022]

9.3 rating is not correct, because there are only 7 ratings and they are all by actors Friend. I am unable to control my laugh, even Darshan praised this movie, may be because he got to eat some good quality non veg dishes. We can see the hypocrisy of actor right when he gave example of his friend "Guru", I mean seriously ? Use a Hindu name and then give lecture on working in India and not US, come on man. We all know it was a scripted interview, more people should come forward give appropriate rating, 9.3 is in no way the right rating.

And one of the reporter said Zaid looks like Billy wood actor, that is so offensive because he doesn't look even like sandalwood actor.

Best acting never feel his first movie

[syedkareemsk · 10/10 · 7 November 2022]

Extraordinary acting and songs soo good story line required Little bit best overall good.

Hero and heroine looking nice pair apart from that supporting role is super and comedy was great.zaid khan need good story line he have all quality for doing movies he is acting like he dine already fee movies but his 1st movie excellent acting Sonal also looking beautiful they look like made for each other in this movie. Best movie need to support this kind of actors both have the qualities for doing good movies sonal has the experience but zaid did good job he has skills and good looking charming ect give him another chance.