Cert PG
156 mins
BBFC advice: Contains mild violence
When I was in Delhi a couple of years ago a chap suddenly screamed at me not to touch a lamp-post in a street because he feared I would be electrocuted.
I could see what he meant - wires were hanging precariously and dangerously.
This was par for the course in a country in which health and safety laws seem to have been totally disregarded.
This makes the public warnings at Indian cinema rather incongruous but, nevertheless, movies are littered with them, including "smoking is injurious to health" and "drinking is injurious to health".
These pop up every time a character reaches for a fag or a glass of alcohol (wouldn't it be better just not to include scenes with either?).
I have highlighted this because the words "Do not attempt selfies in dangerous places" was flashed across the screen during Bangalore Naatkal.
I couldn't help laughing because Arya's character, Arjun, was high on a steel girder when he was taking the picture. I mused on how many people would have been prevented from such daredevil activity by the cinema's warning.
Or perhaps it was a case of director Bommarillu Bhaskar mocking the censors? I doubted it.
Arya plays one of three cousins in this buddy movie which sees the trio go, for very different reasons, from a countryside village where they grew up to the happening city of Bangalore.
The most sensible of the three, Kutty (Bobby Simha), is a software engineer who has been pushed into furthering his career by a domineering mother but wants to go back home.
Sri Divya plays Divya whose ambitions to go for an MA are thwarted by an astrologer who tells her parents she should get married. Unfortunately, her match is not one made in heaven.
The third player, Arjun, comes across initially as carefree but it soon becomes clear that his difficult family background is laying heavily.
As well as following the lives of the three leads, Bhaskar's film is also a love letter to what is portrayed as the vibrant city of Bangalore.
This is hammered home by another key character, a radio DJ (Parvathy), who opens her morning show, emphasising its appeal to the young.
Bangalore Naatkal is light, has a neat conclusion and doesn't test the brain cells much but not every movie needs to. If you need a bit of Tamil froth, it ticks the box.
Reasons to watch: it is a vibrant buddy films
Reasons to avoid: a fair spattering of cheese
Laughs: a couple of chuckles
Jumps: none
Vomit: none
Nudity: none
Overall rating: 6.5/10
Star tweet
Sri Divya Couldn't sleep as excited for #BangaloreNaatkal release tomorrow, and who would sleep? When #Theri teaser peaks tonight !!! 