Movie: Narasimha

Director: Tirupathisamy
Cast: Vijaykant, Isha Kopikar, Raghuvaran, Nasser, Rahul Dev, Anandraj.

He's a one-man demolition army, who is hopping from state to state to get to his targets. His mission is to capture the Pakistani terrorist Akhtar who has kidnapped the three service chiefs, rescue them, and expose the traitors. He is none other than Narasimha, an undercover cop. “The Ashoka Chakra has three Simhas. Narasimha is the fourth Simha. He is the most powerful and precious of our secret agents," says Raana a senior defence officer. But Raana seems to have forgotten to tell Narasimha about the 'undercover' part.

For Narasimha does everything to draw attention to himself. Wearing long loose, flowing overcoats in bright pink, blue and yellow, with blue and brown contact lenses, he walks majestically on the roads and public places, his guns, one in each hand, blazing all over the place. Added to that, he proclaims his name menacingly each time he gets a chance, and that's almost in every second frame. 'Simha....Narasimha' he shouts out in all arrogance. That much for a cop working undercover! When he blasts the C.B.I. headquarters with a time bomb, the cops don't know his identity. When they apprehend him at one point, they threaten to torture him, unless he reveals his identity and purpose. For, the cops can find 'no photos, no matching finger prints, no prison record'. It is as though he didn't exist, they say.

And before they can torture him, Narasimha clips out his nail and flesh, lies down on the blocks of ice, and comes out of the 'current-shock’ treatment laughing mockingly at the cops. He escapes from his cell, killing a few more VIPs and kidnapping three others. It is then that Raana informs his officers about the identity of the man. For, if anyone didn't know the identity of Narasimha, it was only the naive cops. Narasimha takes his name quite seriously, if the third kidnapping, of the 'Kalari' master in Kerala, is any indication. As Onam festival is being celebrated in Kerala, with the Ramya Krishnan sizzling number creating a discordant note, Narasimha in the garb of 'Narasimha Avataram' gets to Hiranya (who else?) but the Kalari master's son, mangles and kills him, and then kidnaps the master.

The film has dramatic takings and a slick narrative style. But all these cannot compensate for the absence of a solid, clear script. Director Tirupathisamy (he died in a car accident recently) has proved his credentials in Telugu films - 'Ganesh' and 'Azaad'. But he is unable to create the same magic here. For Vijaykant, it is yet another police officer’s role. Isha has polished up her act since we last saw her in a Tamil film sometime back. Bhupathi's camera catches the action scenes splendidly.