‘45’ Movie Review: A Surreal But Disjointed Take On Karma

What if you get just 45 days to live? Do you cut your losses and try to live the rest of your life vicariously? Or do you fight tooth and nail to find a loophole? Without giving away much of the plot, Arjun Janya’s latest Kannada film largely explores these ideas. When Vinay (Raj B. Shetty) leaves home on a regular morning in Bangalore, life at the MG signal changes in an instant. The 45 seconds left on the traffic light isn’t a coincidence anymore, and neither is Upendra’s Yama-coded Rayappa, who walks around with skeleton-rooted boots, declaring his murderous intentions for Vinay.

This is a metaphysical film about life and death, but Janya isn’t looking to make an intimate observation of its fallacies. His ambitions are massive, and the treatment is larger — accompanied by VFX and perhaps a touch of machine intelligence. But this also comes at the expense of storytelling. 

A still from ‘45’

45 has some very compelling characters, but it’s quickly apparent that they come to life much more because of the star performers, rather than the writing. The film revolves around three men: Vinay (Shetty), Shivu (Shiva Rajkumar) and Rayappa (Upendra). On a surface level, these characters are given a few basic quirks; Vinay is a nervous wreck, Shivu is the cool cat, and Rayappa is the dog lover with temperament issues. The actors bring freshness to these one-note descriptions and try to make them a fun, absurd fixture of this dystopian world. It also helps that the Kannada actors share a chemistry that’s as pleasing as it is irreverent. So when a chance accident brings the lives of the three men together, a misadventure in a world of warped reality ensues.

But when the novelty of this trio runs out, we’re suddenly stranded in a land where logic has no room, and surrealism is king. And in a film like this, which relies so much on visuals, that can only mean CGI and sets. The screenplay, however, lacks the substance to support this idea. From chasing the story of a man who tries to cheat death, 45 quickly changes gear and gives us sermons on karma from Vedic texts explained in heavy detail and jarring CG work. The action sequences that play out endlessly in deserts are heavily suggestive of the Mad Max films. The visual and aural treatment of these ideas often overtake the story itself, heavily digressing from Vinay’s sprint against time, which is what interested us in the first place.

45  deals with several interesting themes, which tie together with its meditation on karma. But the idea that works the best here is the unconditional love of a mother. A mother’s undying spirit to save her son is juxtaposed with a son’s vengeful love for his mother (no matter what form she may be in). Manasi Sudhir is convincing as the mother who relies on the powers above to protect her son. Upendra, on the other hand, is surprisingly moving in scenes featuring his dog. When these pure emotions are explored, the film starts to come together. But 45 progressively becomes less about the characters and more about the bigness of the idea, and eventually comes undone.