Bachelor Movie Review

While watching debut filmmaker Sathish Selvakumar’s Bachelor, we are bound to certain appreciations and of course, some sort of indirect references to movies like Arjun Reddy, where the lovers aren’t more poetic, but rugged. For them, the romance isn’t merely about fantasizing over a duet song in the wonderland, but with intense cuddling, PDAs, and the blatant ritual of ‘LUST’. The Post-Arjun Reddy phase had left a deep impact in K-Town, where the urban heroes overtook the rural (Madurai) heroes with long hairs and thick beards. For instance, the chocolate boy Harish Kalyan in Ispade Rajavum Idhaya Raniyum fell into the same domain. While watching the climax of this GV Prakash-Divya Bharathi starrer “Bachelor”, it does leave the slightest trace of the above mentioned Telugu flick reference, but with the female lead being contrastive in her decision. Yeah! Both are pregnant ladies, and their beaus have parted ways, only to confess and get united, but then… Sathish Selvakumar wants to make a difference here.

The visual promos have already prepared the audiences on what to expect. The makers have clearly cited that it’s not a fun-loving Rom-Com or Adult Comedy, but an intense drama. Naturally, we could sense it all from the trailers. So what’s the tale all about? GV Prakash travels all the way from Coimbatore to Bengaluru for an IT Job and leaves a happy-go-lucky life with his friends. He comes across Divya Bharathi, with whom he instantly attracted. Both of them have the same feelings, and naturally, get indulged in an intimate relationship. But the actual trouble pops up when she gets pregnant and the boy doesn’t want to take up the responsibility.

Director Sathish Selvakumar deserves special mention for the clarity he envisioned on the film’s presentation. Every single technical department has worked accordingly to his plan. Yes, he owns the panache of Director’s Cut, which not many filmmakers of this contemporary phase are enjoying. Be it songs, BGM, or cinematography, it helps a lot in keeping the scenes engrossed. The first half of the film is completely dedicated to the teens, where they can laugh out loud; self-pinch to avoid the laughter for double entendre if seated near to some elderly people out there in the theaters. In contrast, the second hour gets intense, and the play slightly gets directionless. In many places, we don’t see the lead characters have any dialogues or performances. It’s the supporting characters that dominate the space. With a running length of 3Hrs approximately, the second half lets you feel the draggy spell here and there. With 20-25 minutes of trimmed version, the narrative would have got better. The climax might look a little incomplete as it creates a sort of open ending, where the girl has her way to end this serious drama, but it might land up with different conclusions and perspectives. Well, we can get into the analysis with this climax with a stretched version, but that would become a spoiler.

Final word – End of the show! A broad-minded audience would say this – Please Grow up guys! Our society has gone far beyond those pre-marital relationships, and it has already opened to LGBTQ factors. In this aspect, Bachelor is nothing, but a repetition of a time-worn plot, which might tickle the excitements of teen audiences to a certain extent.