Directed through video conferencing, the film lacks the punch it needed but it's an experiment of a kind in filmmaking.
A poster of 'Road King'. (Supplied)
Road King (Kannada)
Road King is the first Kannada film to be directed by a Hollywood filmmaker; that too via video conference (Skype calls). It is an experiment of a kind for sure.
However, when it comes to the content, the film is based on one of the oldest commercial formulae — a lover’s obsessive behaviour.
Here, they call it “obsessive ex-syndrome”.
The tale is quite simple. Arjun, played by debutant Mateen Hussain, is a bike enthusiast who falls in love with Manasa (Rukshar Dhillon).
A still from ‘Road King’. (Supplied)
All is fine with romance at its peak between the two until the first half comes to an end.
Like a majority of love stories in Indian cinema, the parents, especially the girl’s guardian, turn out to be the villains.
Before the romantic drama gets serious, the boy meets the girl, and late-night parties and long rides with a couple of songs to go with the mood make Road King a usual saga.
What happens in the second half is for the audience to discover.
The highlight here is how Road King has been directed through video conference!
Though the tale might sound a bit cliched, Randy Kent has put in his best to keep it original through his making. Nowhere does the film feel like a melodrama filled with overacting sequences.
Some scenes mirror the Hollywood style of making where more emphasis is given to close-up shots with limited dialogues, and more importantly, keeping it true to the subject.
Randy certainly deserves appreciation for giving his best to helm the project in the first place, thousands of miles away, through the help of technology.
Mateen Hussain in ‘Road King’. (Supplied)
Apart from Mateen Hussain and Rukshar Dhillon, almost everyone is new to the silver screen, which in a way adds to the experiment of Road King.
Mateen does his best but needs more time to perfect his acting skills.
As far as Rukshar is concerned, technically, this is her first film which she had signed before her debut alongside Vinay Rajkumar in Run Antony (2016).
She makes the audience fall in love, and at the same, hate her for ditching her lover midway.
Apart from the curiosity as to how a Hollywood filmmaker directed this film via video conference, Road King is an average and routine age-old drama.
(Views expressed are personal.)
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