‘Kode Muruga’ movie review: A middling film on filmmaking

Express News Service

The vision of an aspiring director, the process of seeing his brainchild through, and the struggles that he has to endure are the pillars that makeup Kode Muruga, the first outing of Subramanya Prasada.

The classic ‘ugly duckling’ tale wrapped in an outer covering of comedy, the movie still manages to convince the audience to watch it. Here’s why.

Kode Muruga narrates the tale of Subramanya Prasada, a director in/of the film begins his struggle in cinema-like everyone by hunting for a producer. After running for a while, his friend helps him find an investor.

Going by the history of the portrayal of producers in films, none blindly accepts the director’s vision and here too, there is a condition. He asks the director to make his brother Muruga the face of the film. The director finds himself in a quandary as Muruga is not your stereotypical hero.

He has a personality that doesn’t translate well on screen and the lack of tall and handsome stature makes him a misfit for a smart hero.

Prasada however, enticed by the opportunity, takes up the challenge and brings Muruga on board. Over the next hour, we see the producer give up due to the shortcomings mid-way, but, the director endures it all for his filmmaking journey.

Will he be able to deliver a hit at the box office? Kode Muruga highlights a few disturbing scenarios that seem familiar to anyone in the industry.

The plight of the director’s life, the behind the scenes manoeuvring and the convincing role of Muruga, makes for interesting viewing. Subramanya Prasada perhaps wants to give us a glimpse into what went into making this movie and leave us with a few questions.

However, there is liberal humour that also has the audience laughing and the entertainment factor is certainly strong in the first half.

But in the second half, the movie turns a bit preachy and might not work for audiences expecting more laughter. Muni Krishna, who plays Muruga, is a perfect choice for the role and shines throughout, after his small roles on television.

He gives credibility to the saying ‘do not judge a book by its cover’ and delivers great comic timing, expressions and dialogue delivery.

His sidekick is played by Kuri Pratap and supporting him are actors Pallavi Gowda, Dattana, Rockline Sudhakar, and Kaddipudi Chandru.

But Subramanya Prasada is both the strength and weakness of Kode Muruga. In an attempt to showcase his struggles on screen, he takes on all responsibility of the film, including story, screenplay, dialogues and lyrics.

In the end, we come out thinking Prasada looks tired and exhausted and ready for the cold climax that Kode Muruga delivers.

The film is definitely different from the regular releases in Sandalwood and it manages to entertain you in parts.