Hebbuli review: The tiger's roar that hid others' shortcomings

Hebbuli is a revenge drama, which reunites Sudeep and Ravichandran again after Maanikya. The Kannada film is loaded with action elements that remain a major highlight in the Krishna-directorial film.

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Captain Raam (Sudeep) returns from the army after his elder brother and IAS officer Sathya Murthy (Ravichandran)'s death. The police close the issue as a suicide case, but Raam has four reasons to refuse believing the theory narrated by the police. He decides to investigate the case on his own and one important link leads him to understand that his brother had died for a big cause.

Now, Raam not only decides to eliminate the people behind Sathya Murthy's death, but also to emerge victorious in the cause for which his brother lost his life.

Hebbuli briefly talks about the medicine mafia and reveals some interesting facts about the pharmaceutical industry. It also tries to tell the importance of generic medicine and how the poor are losing their lives due to the unaffordable medicine for life-threatening diseases, mainly cancer. The message part has to be welcomed by the viewers as it blends well with the storyline.

Sudeep's stylish avatars leave the audience spellbound. His intensive looks and energetic performance elevate the mood of the audience even during the dullest moments in the flick. Ravichandran's role, though small, has an ever-lasting impact. The lesser we talk about Amala Paul the better, thanks to the ordinary editing of her scenes. The poor dubbing in the initial part does not help the cause.

Chikkanna is good and the audience expected fearsome villains when we have biggies like Kabir Duhan Singh, P Ravi Shankar and Ravi Kishan. Unfortunately, they fail to intensify the mood in the film. In the technical departments, A Karunakar's cinematography speaks of high class while Arjun Janya has the required number of songs to drive the mass crazy. But a thumbs down for Deepu S Kumar for poor editing.

Hebbuli has a decent storyline. Director S Krishna gets full marks for taking the film to a commercial conclusion with neatly conveyed messages. But the placements of songs and romantic portion between Sudeep and Amala Paul become speed breakers. Nonetheless, Kiccha's electrifying screen presence hides all the shortcomings.

Overall, the film is a good entertainerif watched without finding faults like logical loopholes or bad editing.

Ratings: 2.5