‘Martin’ movie review: Dhruva Sarja’s ambitious action-thriller is marred by its brash execution

In a bid to elevate actor Dhruva Sarja’s stardom, the makers of ‘Martin’ fall short in delivering a coherent action drama

Dhruva Sarja in ‘Martin’ | Photo Credit: Saregama Music/YouTube

The easiest way to describe Martin is that it isn’t a film meant for everyone; the AP Arjun directorial is only meant to excite fans of Dhruva Sarja and engage those who prefer over-the-top entertainment that defies logic.

The action thriller begins as a template movie, and one wishes it remained template as it progresses, because, compared to its other flaws, the film’s ordinariness is its biggest plus. The predictable ideas work in its favour, keeping Martin at least in the watchable category. But once the poorly thought-out twists are unleashed, it becomes a mess.

Martin (Kannada)

Director: A P Arjun

Cast: Dhruva Sarja, Vaibhavi Shandilya, Achyuth Kumar, Chikkanna

Runtime: 147 minutes

Storyline: Arjun’s dramatic journey takes him to the length and breadth of the country as he fights against evil forces lurking to destroy India

The film begins with an Indian man (Dhruva Sarja) getting captured in Pakistan. He behaves aggressively in jail, beating hundreds of men, and is described as an intoxicated mammoth by the army officials. 

Soon, we learn that his name is Arjun, and he has lost his memory after being injected with multiple drugs. Arjun decides to escape from Pakistan to learn more about himself, and in this process, finds out that a man called Martin is targeting him and his loved ones. But who is Martin? And why is he on a killing spree?

Martin had the potential to be a pulpy and exciting thriller, and the action blocks come at the right time to keep our curiosity intact. However, the problem lies in the execution of action sequences and the handling of the film’s numerous ideas.

Apart from one intense chase involving cars and bikes and the high-octane climax sequence shot in a vast, desert-like landscape, the much-hyped action sequences lack style. The other fights show the hero as someone impossible of being defeated, who tosses around vehicles and human beings at will.

The film’s overstuffed screenplay keeps throwing one conflict after another at us, giving us little time to process. To an extent, we keep going with the flow, but several glaring flaws are hard to ignore.

Martin wants to celebrate the idea of being an Indian. But according to the film, villainising Pakistan is the only definition of being patriotic. The film also lacks a basic sense of geography as we see people in Pakistan speaking in Kannada. Similarly, a continuity error is evident in the romantic number ‘Jeeva Neene‘ and Dhruva sports a hairstyle different from the scene before the song!

Dhruva Sarja’s performance is a double-edged sword to the film’s prospects. While portraying a character with anti-hero elements, his acting is marked by exaggerated behaviour. Perhaps that was the brief from the director, but the result isn’t satisfying. His intense dialogue delivery gives us a glimpse of a gifted actor, yet his portrayal of a deadly man in some scenes is too hard to digest.

As Martin nears its ending, you do feel that this isn’t the film Dhruva deserved, but he does deserve some share of the blame for constantly appearing in projects that reek of excess. Despite being blessed with a huge budget, the makers seem to have overlooked the importance of elegance in execution and finesse in writing.

Martin is currently running in theatres