Film: Kalicharan
Rating: 2/5
Banner: Sri Karunalayam Productions
Cast: Chaitanya, Chandni, Pankaj Kesari, Sanjeeva, Vijayarani, Nagineedu, Rao Ramesh, Deekshitulu and others
Music: Nandan Raj
Cinematographers: Satish Muthyala, Bathula Viswadeva
Director: Sri Prawin
Producer: Prawin Reddy
Release date: 08/11/2013
Yet another protégé of Ram Gopal Varma has now arrived in Tollywood and after making ‘Gayam 2’ he has chosen a very violent entertainer for the audience. Let us see if he was good this time
Story
Set on the backdrop of a small town, the story begins with Kalicharan (Chaitanya) who gets into a clash with the local leader Pasupathy (Pankaj Kesari) and caught by the police. But he is bailed out by another politician (Rao Ramesh). Kali also has a love story with Theertha (Chandni) and both get married. But Pasupathy is yet to have his revenge and he attacks Kali once again. But why did the fight start between both? Who wins in the end forms the rest of the story.
Performances
Chaitanya’s commitment and hardwork for the role is appreciated. He could generate that anger and intensity in most sequences but he should have worked on his voice. It was too young and smooth with no roughness.
Chandni is not much of a looker. She has few features of Genelia but will not be able to grab attention. Performance wise, she was confident and did her bit well.
Pankaj Kesari showed good intensity in his expressions and dialogue delivery. He fitted the role as required.
Nagineedu was natural, Rao Ramesh was not used to the fullest, Deekshitulu was decent, the lady who did the role of Pankaj’s wife was good. Others didn’t have much to offer.
Highlights
- Shot composition and intensity
- Second half
- Background score and songs
- Technical values
Drawbacks
- Weak emotional quotient
- Screenplay hiccups
- Abrupt narrative
- Conclusion
Analysis
The director comes from the school of RGV so it is understood why he has chosen such a subject. He has already showed his flavor through ‘Gaayam 2’ but this time the subject was more raw and rugged.
Now, there is a good line between being a good technician and a fine storyteller.
Here, the director has succeeded in the first but not in the second. It is not just about conceiving a shot perfectly and getting the lighting or backdrop right, it is also about generating the right emotion and develop a juice that the audience can connect to and continue the journey throughout the film.
Even before the viewer can actually connect to the character the next scene jumps in which is a dampener.
On the bright side, the dialogues were not intellectual but realistic, the backdrop was taken care of properly since it was an 80s era story.
Nothing new in the script but the director adopted a reverse screenplay mechanism due to which some hiccups were visible.
The film takes off on a decent note and the regular elements of violence, romance, songs were present. But the actual plot is uncovered during the second half. Connecting the dots and linking it to the main plot could have been more effective but the intensity aspect covered for the flaws.
What the director needs to focus in his next venture is drama and emotional connect to give the cinematic feel instead of a subject that hits right on the face without any soul in it.
More than RGV, the director is influenced by Krishna Vamsi and Mani Ratnam hence he could generate that rugged intensity.
The narrative is good but emotional quotient he could not sustain and he was unable to immerse the audience. Still, a good potential is observed in him.
The film per se might appeal to the serious and thinking audience.
Bottomline: Raw with mediocre intensity
(Venkat can be reached at [email protected] or https://twitter.com/greatandhranews)
