Because everything has been so well spelled out, a surgical analysis of Bagheera's different ideologically problematic elements would be too evident. Additionally, at the film's climax, director Adhik Ravichandran saves viewers the bother by having a female character argue against every problematic idea that had been so jubilantly promoted throughout the entire movie up to that point. This glaringly obvious insurance for goodwill's sake scarcely works because the movie also has a lot of core issues, some of which are oddly entertaining.

The majority of these strange, amusing problems may be noticed in the movie's opening act. First off, there is a teddy bear who stalks women and kills them. And any attempt to defend that claim would come off as absurd as the claim itself.

But I'll still try, so here I am: There has been a recent rash of killings of young women in the city. Unaware women are first surprised by an odd present from their partner, Bagheera, in the beginning. The females are so willing to give their boyfriend's orders to embrace and kiss this purposefully grotesque-looking teddy bear. The teddy bear then proceeds to murder them with what is essentially a syringe linked to a hammer as a pointless elaborate murder weapon.

It is difficult to accept that the creators intended for these scenes to be serious at this point, and you find yourself unsure of whether you are laughing with or at the movie. We meet Bagheera, the man behind the curtain, while you are oddly amused by the deadly teddy bear. Prabhu Deva wears several disguises to trick various women. Nearly every appearance he makes is as outrageous and ridiculous as the murdering teddy bear, but the cherry on top is how clearly Prabhu Deva is having fun.

The performer, who is obviously having fun with his role, is without a doubt the most genuine and delightful aspect of the movie. The only amusing aspects of Bagheera are the deadly teddy bear and the crazy, insane Prabhu Deva. The rest of the movie is either overly excessive, excruciatingly trite, or funny trite (example: "boy bestie" jokes).

The lowest point of the movie is when we are forced to go through a strange artistic decision where half of the flashback is animated and the other half is live-action. The entire scenario had the impression that the filmmakers were trying to figure out all the problems so far and solve them with the quick-fix flashback, however this may have been due to budgetary restrictions or actor availability.

Prabhu Deva's Bagheera repeatedly identifies himself as the rescuer of mankind. He even creates an app that allows people to post complaints about girls who shattered their hearts; Bagheera then goes on the hunt for the girls. "Ponnungalukku onnu na maadhar sangam varum but pasangalukku onnu na indha Bagheera varuvan." Bagheera aims to be a hybrid of Manmathan and Anniyan with the app on the one hand and the serial murderer who targets promiscuous women on the other side, but the execution is not as exciting as how the idea sounds on paper.

One of Bagheera's victims (played by Amyra Dastur) is locked in a mansion with him towards the conclusion of the movie and is then hunted around in a game of cat and mouse. The sequence lacks tension, but Prabhu Deva's antics and a remix of the song Pattukottai Ammalu from the 1982 film Ranga lift the mood and provide some much-needed relief.

When adult entertainers don't take themselves too seriously, they typically do well. While there are some parts of Bagheera that greatly benefit from this playful tone, other parts of the movie have logical gaps and reckless writing that seem to be there on purpose. Unfortunately, the film's latter sections flatten whatever little was initially constructed.

Bagheera

Adhik Ravichandran is the director.

Cast includes Amyra Dastur, Janani, Gayathrie Shankar, Sakshi Agarwal, Prabhu Deva, and Sanchita Shetty.

2.5 out of 5