Movie: Bhala Thandanana
Rating: 2/5
Banner: Vaarahi Chalana Chitram
Cast: Sree Vishnu, Catherine Tresa, Garuda Ram, Satya, Posani, Ayyappa P. Sharma, Chaitanya and others
Music: Mani Sharma
Story and Dialogues: Srikanth Vissa S
Cinematographer: Suresh Ragutu
Editor: Marthand K. Venkatesh
Producer: Rajani Korrapati
Screenplay and directed by: Chaitanya Dantuluri
Release Date: May 6, 2022
Sree Vishnu’s “Bhala Thandhanana” raised expectations when Rajamouli praised the movie at the pre-release event. He mentioned that he watched the film and liked it. When India’s top director likes it, audiences expect something good.
Let’s find out more about the film...
Story:
Chandu (Sree Vishnu) works as an accountant, and he is in love with journalist Sashi Rekha (Catherine). Anand Bali (Garuda Ram) runs a hawala business and keeps Rs 2000 crore in secured dens in various parts of the city.
Chandu is not who he seems to be. He sketches a plan to steal Rs 2000 Cr from Anand Bali. How does he pull off such a big act? And who is he really?
Artistes’ Performances:
Sree Vishnu has shown two shades – an innocent person and an action hero. He is believable in the characters, but the characterization lacks force.
Catherine Tresa is a total misfit for the journalist’s role.
‘KGF’ fame Garuda Ram makes his presence felt. Posani Krishna Murali does his usual act. Satya provides some comic relief.
Technical Excellence:
The film has decent action episodes. The production design is substandard. So is music. It doesn’t boast any worth mentioning work from technicians at all.
Highlights:
Sree Vishnu
Interval bang
Drawback:
Predictable situations
Boring narration
Unexciting twist
Catherine Tresa
Analysis
The writers and director of “Bhala Tandanana” must have thought the twists in the plot would always shock the audience. But even those who are not well-versed with movies can easily guess the so-called twist. Revealing that the protagonist has another identity has been done and dusted.
Furthermore, the story and screenplay written by Srikanth Vissa (who also wrote Ravi Teja’s ‘Khiladi’ with similar twists) have tepid turns all along the way.
The title “Bhala Tandanana” is derived from Annamayya Keerthana, which said that all men are the same - no one is higher or inferior. Here the title represents that all are alike when it comes to money and greed.
Though the film centers around Rs 2000 crore, it takes too much time to come to the point. We get to see many introductions in the first half, and the dull track about Catherine and Sree Vishnu.
Catherine plays a journalist, who unearths big scams. But she fears when her Bava blackmails for money and does not care to find out about the hero’s background. The journalism scenes are archaic.
The real drama takes place when the hero hatches a plan to steal Rs 2000 crore and the villain played by Garuda Ram comes up with his twists. But most of the drama has clichéd moments. Not a single out-of-the-box idea exists for a plot that claims to be an intelligent action thriller.
The direction is dull and the screenplay is lethargic. The ‘Squid Game’ inspired climax portions have not worked at all. The hint in the second part is unnecessary.
Sree Vishnu who has won a name for selecting different kinds of stories is unnecessarily trying action-hero image. He should stick to his core strength.
All in all, “Bhala Thandhanana” is a tepid effort on all counts.
Bottom line: No Bhala!
