Maasthi Gudi

Maasthi is a mahout residing in the village next to the forest. The forest is his life and he doesn't like it if a single living creature there is hurt. But what happens when poachers enter the forest and want to kill the tigers?

Nagashekar's Maasthi Gudi, which is based on a story written by Duniya Vijay, has been in the news for varied reasons. All those aside, does it make for an entertaining watch? It does, but not entirely. The film has a good message that it seeks to send, but the execution falters with a lacklustre screenplay. While Duniya Vijay and heroines Amulya and Kriti Kharbanda lead the way when it comes to performances, along with rest of the ensemble cast, there are a lot of times one is left bewildered as to what is going on, especially in the second half.

Known for his romantic capers, Nagashekar has ensured that the two love stories, involving both the leading ladies, are sweet, peppered with good songs. But, the main plot, which involves the hero fighting the poachers and his efforts to save the forest lacks the punch. The two negative leads, Raghava Uday and Anil Kumar, who lost their lives on the film's set, don't seem to have justified roles and seem rather comical than menacing. The use of supernatural too is rather abrupt and nothing seems justified, especially towards the climax.

While the fight sequences seem to be well choreographed, especially the one involving Ravishankar and Vijay, and the songs are hummable with short but cute romantic tales backing them, the film in totality seems rather befuddling towards the end.

While this film does seem a tad underwhelming eventually, one can definitely go and watch the film for Vijay's acting and the underlying message about forest conservation.