Banaras review: Watch if you have enough time to waste!

After the success of Bell Bottom, director Jayatheertha returns with a pan-India venture titled, Banaras. The film also marks the debut of another politician’s son, Zaid Khan.

Mostly set in one of the oldest living cities in the world, Varanasi or Kashi or Banaras — a special spiritual place for Hindus for its mythological prominence — the movie revolves around the central character of Siddharth played by the debutant Zaid Khan.

What follows for two-and-a-half hours is an excruciating experience or in short, a waste of time!

Well, speaking of time, this one is a mix-masala of a time-travel saga of love and utter poor performances.

To begin with, Siddharth (Khan) is the only son of a filthy rich father, which is usually the case in many such ventures wherein the mother often dies due to road mishaps or immediately after giving birth to the baby.

In Banaras, the mother dies in a road accident!

A jovial, light-hearted Siddharth meets Dhani (Sonal Monteiro) for a reason, a bet that he had with his gang of friends on making her fall for him in love in three days.

He somehow ends up in her bedroom following a cock-and-bull story which he cooks up over time travel. Soon, the photo he takes to prove his bet goes accidentally viral.

A bizarre tale of love

With this as a base, Jayatheertha penned a love story of innocence, regret and forgiveness with a time-travelling spin!

It not only sounds bizarre but evokes similar feelings while watching it.

The saga continues in Banaras when Siddharth comes in search of Dhani, seeking her forgiveness and regaining her respect and reputation, which are badly ruined on social media following the bedroom photo that had gone viral.

Dhani is staying in Banaras along with her uncle and aunt after losing her parents.

Her uncle is a professor in chemistry and is working on a path-breaking truth serum which is set to revolutionise narco analysis. However, it is in its final stage and has kindled hopes of a Nobel prize.

Will Dhani forgive Siddharth? Yes, she does and not just forgives but reveals that she is in love with him.

This is when the “time” goes for a toss as Siddharth starts hallucinating about murders that he is on a race to prevent them in future.

BANARAS on the 4th of November ♥️ can’t wait for you guys to watch it on big screen ❤️ pic.twitter.com/BPkN7dHIuv

— Sonal Monteiro Official (@sonal_monteiro) October 27, 2022

Dated formula with many flaws

At times, when an abundance of excellent suspense thrillers is easily available to appreciate and experience on OTTs, Banaras is too ordinary and an outdated formula marred with numerous flaws.

Not even music composed by B Ajaneesh Lokanath helps in any way to lift the boredom which is provided relentlessly throughout Banaras.

Average performances, mainly by Zaid Khan, make it even worse to sustain the time until the climax hits with the closing credits start showing up.

Since time is of the utmost essence, this one can be skipped for time’s sake. Recommended to only those who have abundant time to waste!