Abhijit Joshi

After KGF, ASN is clearly the next big attempt at proving that KFI is poised to dream up bigger visions and handle scale and universal reach. ASN does not disappoint on this count, be it the cinematography that converts every scene into a rich visual treat, the sets, locations and the enthralling art direction, the BGM which supports and substantiates the storytelling or the carefully etched out larger than life characters, each with a significant act in the bigger plot. The Quentin meets Clint Eastwood style of storytelling along with the Jack Sparrow like quirkiness of Rakshit's police officer character is a fresh and bold approach, never seen before in KFI, not at least at this scale. Set in a fictional feudal town where our hero faces off with the good, the bad and the ugly in search of an ancient hidden treasure, the film blends action, stunts, comic punchlines, drama, subtle romance, references to our ancient scriptures and good vs evil myths into a complete commercial potboiler. Where the film falters is that the writing and the narrative do not hold the entire runtime of the movie by a single thread. While the first half generates curiosity and intrigues the viewer in expectation of resurrecting some mysterious legend, the second half becomes predictable and then it is a wait till the climax where things end a bit abruptly. The 3 hour plus runtime makes you feel a lot of scenes, story linkages and dialogues are being repeated. ASN however is definitely a Fresh and Novel effort at painting a Larger than Life canvas along with a wholesome entertainment experience. It is bound to make viewers from different languages stand up and take notice of KFI!