Movie: Jenda Pai Kapiraju
Rating: 2.5/5
Banner: Vasan Visual Ventures
Cast: Nani, Amala Paul, Siva Balaji, Vennela Kishore, Sarat Kumar and Others
Music: G V Prakash Rao
Cinematography: M Sukumar, M Jeevan
Editor: S N Fajil
Producer: K S Srinivasan
Story, Screen Play, Direction: P Samudra Khani
Release Date: March 21, 2015
Corruption and cleansing the system is not a new topic for Tollywood or any cinema for that matter. It is probably the most preferred topic apart from romance. So, Jenda Pai Kapiraju is one film that deals with corruption and the main protagonist makes it his mission to pick and choose corrupt officers and eliminate them his style.
Technically speaking, there is nothing wrong with choosing an oft-repeated story. However, the intensity and the loudness with which director Samudrakhani has made the film, makes it a bit a tedious to watch.
For starters, the film is on the lines of Shankar’s Bharateeyudu, Aparichitudu and Chiranjeevi’s Tagore. Only that they have been made on a much, much bigger canvas. So, you feel that the very purpose of the film is lost as the same story has been told many times in the past in a similar format.
Of course, Nani’s performance is the biggest asset for the film and he pulls off the emotional scenes pretty well. Having said that, director Samudrakhani could have made the film in a subtle and more natural way to keep the audience interested. Instead, he resorts to Tamil B-grade style narrative and that makes the whole experience rather loud. It goes without saying that this itself makes the film less appealing for the Telugu audiences who are not used to this style of films.
Incidentally, the film was made differently for Telugu and Tamil audiences. Still, Samudrakhani could not show the variation in the style of narration of both the films. However, the story has its moments within the routine plot and it has some really tense craze sequences and fight sequences. There are also some totally unbelievable situations which the director has handled rather casually.
So, coming to the actual story, it is about Aravind (Nani) who is against corruption in any form. He blacklists a bunch of government officials and targets them. In a counter move, his opponents bring in his lookalike Maya Kannan (Nani) to defeat him. Will Aravind manage to succeed in his fight forms the crux of the story.
The director spends a lot of time to establish the sincerity of Aravind and them film does not have the same intensity and speed as the television interview scene, court scene, etc. Due to this, more than enticing the audience, the film becomes a tedious affair for the audience.
But Nani manages to maintain the balance through his performance without going overboard. His body language and expressions as Mani Kannan are impressive. As for heroine Amala Paul, she gets a small part and Sarath Kumar’s character is rushed. In fact, Vennela Kishore gets a good role and he performs well. While Tanikella Bharani is ok, Ragini Dwivedi totally overacts.
But the main drawback of the film is the way director Samudrakhani handled the film. It has an out and out B-grade feel to it.
Barring Nani’s performance, not many may relate to the film due to the loudness. On the other hand, it could manage to do decent business in mass centres.
Bottomline: Fight against corruption goes overboard!
(Venkat can be reached [email protected] or https://twitter.com/greatandhranews)
