There are only a handful of Indian films that do justice to the superhero genre. Mard ko Dard Nahi Hota, Bhavesh Joshi Superhero, and Minnal Murali are the only ones that have come close to offering a proper origin story of a superhero with a lot of earnestness. Bagheera, the Kannada film, also comes close to being included in this list as the premise is interesting. Bagheera is about a police officer-turned-vigilante superhero trying to save people from the mafia and the rowdies who were causing havoc in the coastal city of Mangalore in Karnataka.
Spoilers Ahead
Why did Vedanth want to become a superhero?
Bagheera began with a child named Vedanth being admitted to the hospital after he attempted to be Superman and jumped off the terrace of his home. His mother let Vedanth know that there were already superheroes around them in the form of doctors and police officers. She pointed out that his father, Prabhakar, was a police officer who was no less than a superhero. He saved society from malice by putting himself at risk on a daily basis and took care of the family as well.
Was Vedanth an honest cop?
Vedanth grew up to be a police officer, just like his father. His mother had passed away long ago, and he dedicated his uniform to her, as she was instrumental in Vedanth becoming a cop. Vedant joined as an Assistant Commissioner of Police in a prominent station in the city of Mangalore. In no time, Vedanth checked out the problematic areas in his jurisdiction and arrested many rowdies, henchmen, and small-time mafia. This garnered him a good reputation amongst the people and the media. Vedanth refused to take bribes, as he took the job of a cop seriously. He wanted to replicate his father’s work, and hoped he would be a hero to the people as well.
What changed Vedanth’s perspective on his job?
In his pursuit of arresting gang leaders and many troublesome characters in the city, Vedanth’s biggest fear was the capture of Poojari, one of the notorious gang leaders in the city. His arrest created a ripple effect amongst his superiors, who asked Vedanth to stop his antics and let go of Poojari and his henchmen. Vedanth was confused, as he believed he was doing nothing more than what police officers were supposed to do. His boss had to let him know there was a system in place and it need not be shaken up. His boss indicated that Poojari’s arrest had endangered many powerful police officers and politicians who gained from the gang leader’s fear and power over people.
Poojari had to be acquitted, and Vendanth learned that his father had bribed officials for him to secure a gold medal in the police examinations and receive the controversial Mangalore police station, as he would be able to garner more bribes there. Vedanth was distraught as this revelation about his father shattered all the illusions he had created about him. Even though he questions his father’s moves, Prabhakar lets him know he was able to live a certain lifestyle and pay for his wife’s cancer treatment because of those bribes.
When did Bagheera make his first appearance?
Vedanth had a hard time recovering from the hardcore truths revealed by his father. Around that time, a woman was unable to file a complaint against Poojari’s men, who had kidnapped her daughter. Vedanth and his subordinate Narayan were unable to help her right from the start. On that day, Vedanth came back after a sleepless night, and he was a witness to the same woman cursing at the police officers for not helping to save her daughter, who was raped by said men. The daughter lost hope and immolated herself in front of the police station. A distraught Vedanth asked Narayan to close the case by claiming it was a suicide due to heartbreak. On the same night, Vedanth showed up at the shipyard and brutally killed all of Poojari’s men who had been involved in the raped that led to the death of an innocent woman. Vedanth appeared covering himself in black and wearing a black mask. The only person who witnessed his killings was a young kid who, on interrogation, revealed that he saw ‘Bagheera.’
Was Vedanth trapped?
Vedanth as Bagheera, went on a rampage as he went after every criminal in the city in the middle of the night and killed all of them. In the morning, as the ACP, he hardly bothered to look into any case that came across his desk. This bothered Narayan, and he began to suspect Vedanth might be Bagheera, as there were telltale signs. People against whom any complaint was filed were dealt with on the same night and Narayan caught up to Vedanth’s modus operandi but never let anyone know of Bagheera’s real identity.
Ranganna, a prominent journalist who was known for writing exposés on criminals and politicians, was killed by Poojari. Sidhi, another corrupt police officer, helped him to cover up the case. Bagheera in no time killed Sidhi and Poojari and it again sent ripple effects in the state CBI team. Sidhi was the son of CBI director and he wanted answers. Kotian, another gang leader, set up a trap and carried out mass kidnappings across the city in the hope Bagheera would show up to help the people. Kotian’s plan worked, but Bagheera barely escaped with a bullet wound. An injured Vedanth approached Sneha, his fiancée, who was a doctor. Sneha was now the second person who knew the real identity of Bagheera and nursed him in no time. She chose to keep his identity to herself, which was an indication of the fact that she loved him and supported his vigilante justice.
What triggered the appearance of Rana?
After his swift recovery, Bagheera met Kotian, who told him about the leader sitting on the top, who he, Poojari, Yogi, and the other criminals in town answered to. His name was Rana, who ran a massive organ racket trade around the country. Kotian was aware of Rana’s torture methods and chose to kill his family and himself to avoid getting captured by Rana and his men. Bagheera realized he had a bigger villain to capture, and it would not be easy this time around.
Why was the CBI after Bagheera?
Since Bagheera had killed many criminals, the people of the city were happy to support him. Sidhi’s uncle, CBI officer Guru, was put in charge by his brother to find Bagheera and possibly kill him in an encounter. Guru began his investigation, but they were unable to find any clues that would lead them to Bagheera.
Bagheera, on the other hand, formed a small vigilante team that included a hacker who had worked with the police before. He also hired a preteen boy who was good at creating electronic devices. The last person to join his team was an expert in handling and making weapons. His small team helped him crack Rana’s organ trafficking ring. One of the crackdowns helped Guru find out about Rana’s ring, and he had hoped the people who were saved would recognize Bagheera, but to no avail.
How did Guru figure out Vedanth was Bagheera?
Guru began to go through complaints filed against Bagheera from across the country, and Narayan in no time deleted the ones filed in their station to avoid suspicion. However, the pattern Guru was able to crack was that any complaints filed against a certain person in Vedanth’s station resulted in that person being killed on that same night. They were also able to find a blurry image of Bagheera from one of the places he attacked. Guru began to suspect it was Vedanth and compared the CCTV footage to the video of his training days in the academy. There was a similarity in the body structure and how both held their guns, and it helped Guru deduce that Vedanth was indeed Bagheera and he needed to be stopped.
Did Bagheera save Sneha or the people trapped by Rana?
With Bagheera’s identity exposed to Guru and the police, someone from his team informed Rana about the same. Rana switched on Yogi’s phone and decided to trap Bagheera, as he knew the vigilante was after his henchman. Rana’s plan worked, as Bagheera reached the villain’s den. Rana attempted to kill the vigilante with the help of his countless men but Bagheera barely escaped by killing most of the rowdies and henchmen, but he was about to witness the worst.
Rana kidnapped Sneha and at the same time he trapped a bunch of people at the harbor. He gave Bagheera a choice to save either one of them. Sneha, who was now aware that she would not survive, claimed that Bagheera would save the people, and she was glad he would make such a decision. As expected, a conflicted Bagheera finally had to make a decision that would shake his ideals as a savior, and at the same time, he might lose the love of his life as well. This was bound to happen because this kind of catharsis is what makes superheroes/vigilantes complicated. Him choosing what was right over his personal feelings was a typical case of savior complex taking precedence over his loved ones. This trait is seen in many superheroes across literature and cinema. This guilt would further fuel their angst to go after people that wronged the innocent.
In this case, Bagheera did not save Sneha as he knew he would have to choose his ideals. Since his respect for justice was way above the love he had for Sneha or his father. He knew Sneha would die, but somehow he would be able to treat it like a sacrifice made by the woman for his sake. As Bagheera saved the people trapped at the harbour, he was arrested in no time by Guru and his team and was taken away. It was assumed Sneha was killed by Rana. Rana also transported the rescued people in a goods train to extract organs from their bodies.
Was Bagheera dead or alive?
Bagheera was taken away by Guru’s team to a secluded part of the state. It was not hard to assume that Bagheera would be killed, but his death would be dubbed an encounter killing. In the eyes of the people, Bagheera was their savior, but to the police, he was a man on a rampage who took law and order into his own hands and delivered justice in his own fashion. Bagheera seemed like another version of Batman who had the desire to seek justice for those who find it hard to seek it at the hands of police and the courts. Sneha was like Rachel, who had to make the ultimate sacrifice so that Bagheera could live long enough to continue his work and people to revere him for his greatness.
Guru’s squadmate was hesitant about killing Bagheera, as he felt the man did nothing wrong by killing the criminals, which was essentially a police job. The said squadmate killed his superior, who turned out to be Rana’s informer who wanted Bagheera to be dead. This was a classic good vs evil template, and there was nothing new about Bagheera being rescued by the police so that he would continue to save the lives of the people. Guru, however, submitted a report to his brother, the CBI director, that he could not find Bagheera. His brother could not believe Guru’s words, and the latter promised he would catch the vigilante in no time. This was a farce that the CBI director and Guru both knew about, as the latter was clearly in support of what Bagheera was up to. Guru could be seen as a parallel to Commissioner Gordon, as he wanted to let Bagheera go, stating he could not stop him, and neither could the law. Just like in the Batman franchise, if there is a sequel, Bagheera and Guru might work together to fight crimes.
It was revealed that Guru had given the orders to kill the police officer who was Rana’s man, indicating that he put in motion the chain of actions that might lead to the death of many criminals, which Guru was in favor of. Guru let Bagheera know of Rana taking innocent people to a coastal town for his large-scale operation. Since Bagheera didn’t have to bother with jurisdiction, he could capture and kill criminals absconding. Bagheera reached the running train in no time and saved the people after killing Rana and his men. The people who were saved ran into media who we assume were sent by Guru. Guru probably wanted people to talk about Bagheera and spread his legend so that the criminals across the country would be afraid of him.
Bagheera ended with Guru submitting a report to the Central Railway Minister that revealed the railway employees were involved with Rana in carrying out the organ trade. Guru was also quick to let the central minister know it would be better if the leader resigned, since Guru was not afraid of being demoted or transferred. However, Guru reminded the central minister that Bagheera would not follow protocol before killing him, and he better be afraid of the wrath that would befall him. Guru finally was using Bagheera to his benefit, and just like that, the vigilante’s saga will continue.
