Rating: 2.75/5
Banner: Sri Sailendra Cinemas
Cast: Manchu Manoj, Kriti Kharbanda, Sana Khan, Murali Sharma, Vennela Kishore, Brahmanandama and others
Music: Yuvan Shankar Raja
Cinematographer: Rajasekhar
Editor: Naveen Cuts
Story, direction: Ani Kanneganti
Producer: D S Rao
Release date: 08/03/2012
Manchu Manoj who is known for his variety roles is back and this time he dons a different avatar with an interesting title. Whether it lives up to the hype let us see
Story
Nookayya (Manchu Manoj) is an orphan and he grows up as a cell phone thief and has his accomplices (Vennela Kishore, Paruchuri Venkateswara Rao).
On the other hand, there is Anuradha (Kriti Kharbanda) who is newly married to Ravi (Raja). On a job interview, Ravi goes to another town but Anu receives an MMS which shows that her hubby has been kidnapped by the notorious Shahjahan (Murali Sharma). The kidnapper demands Rs 2 crores ransom and Anu decides to steal the money from the bank she is working. While she gets the money to a specified destination, Nookayya who is in love with Shilpa (Sana Khan) steals that bag hoping he can get rich and marry her. However, Nookayya plan backfires and he discovers some harsh facts. Few situations lead him to help Anu and what happens from there forms the rest of the story.
Performances
Manchu Manoj is like a mobile in full vibration. He is energetic, eccentric, bubbly and expressive. What he needs is a good director who can exploit his skills as an actor. He has to tone down few histrionics and that would take him places.
Kriti Kharbanda was drop dead beautiful. For the first time in her career, she got a meaty role and she has improved significantly in her performance. She has potential.
Sana Khan was there for the glamour quotient and visual feast in one song. Her role in grey shades is also effective and she carried it with good balance.
Murali Sharma was brief but made his presence felt. Vennela Kishore was appealing. Raja was a surprise. Brahmanandam should have been there for longer time, he was hilarious. Sameer Reddy was alright, Brahmaji was hardly there, Ahuti Prasad was apt. The others didn’t have much scope.
Highlights
- Cinematography, especially the 1000 frames capture
- Manoj’s energy levels and Kriti’s striking beauty
- Last twenty minutes
- Song picturization
Drawbacks
- Weak emotional quotient
- Jerks in screenplay
- Poor comedy
- Drag in few sequences
- Lack of seriousness and intensity where required
- Overdose of brutality and profanity in dialogues
Analysis
Any film that has Manchu Manoj, one can expect something different. Even his characterisation is different. Even this film grabbed attention with its unusual title and the taking was different at many places.
However, not all films that have style will score with the audience. One should have the right kind of content and the execution to get the viewer into the film. Here, the plot chosen was alright but a lot depends on the screenplay and the entertainment factor laced with it. Both had hiccups so the end product looked like good in parts. Though the first half goes without much excitement, the interval bang was worth.
The second half gets into a slow takeoff but the real punch is delivered in the last twenty minutes (because the director kept aside the casual part and got into some serious business). One big question is, how did the film pass off without any censor beeps or cuts as few scenes and dialogues were strongly gore.
At one point, the director is like conveying a very harsh side of life by showing money is the only criteria than relations. Fortunately, he was able to connect the dots well at the end.
Overall, the film scores in the technical and performance departments but was not that competent in content and execution. At the box office, this will have few points to score with the masses for the flavour of dialogues and few absurd scenes but it could become an average grosser.
Bottomline: Good in parts!!
(Venkat can be reached at [email protected])
