Movie: Power
Rating: 3/5
Banner: Rockline Entertainments
Cast: Ravi Teja, Hansika Motwani, Regina Cassandra, Bramhanandam, Sampath, Posani Krishna Murali and Others
Music: S Thaman
Wtitten By: Kona Venkat, Mohana Krishna, K Chakravarthy
Editing: Goutham Raju
Cinematography: Jayanan Vincent
Producer: Rockline Venkatesh
Story, Screenplay, Direction: K. S. Ravindra
Release Date: September 12, 2014
It’s the season of writers turning directors. There are many who have debuted in the recent past and Power sees the debut of Bobby aka KS Ravindra who penned the highly successful Balupu among other films. The film has put immense pressure on Ravi Teja as there has been lots of speculation about his future in the industry. So, let’s see how the film has shaped up and if it will be yet another hit in Ravi Teja’s career…
Story:
The movie starts off in Kolkatta where the city’s dreaded don Ganguly (Sampath Raj) and younger brother of the state home minister Jaya Vardhan (Mukesh Rishi) is to be produced in court to be sentenced. And like in all commercial films, his cronies pay the police to let him off on the way. Enters ACP Baldev Sahay (Ravi Teja) who tries to stop them and take Ganguly to the court. This leads to a major chase sequence in hitherto untapped locations in Kolkatta and during the ensuing fight Baldev manages to stop the villains from getting hold of Ganguly. But his police jeep falls into a valley and he is reported killed in the blast and labeled a corrupt officer.
Then the scene shifts to Hyderabad where Thirupathi (Ravi Teja) is a happy-go-lucky guy whose sole dream is to become a police officer. He even dresses like a cop and settles cases in the city instead of his brother-in-law CI Animutyam (Brahmanandam). If you thought that is absurd, then you must remember it is a commercial film and nothing is impossible for the hero. One day, he meets Nirupama (Hansika) the beautiful and popular fortune changer, who promises to change the fortunes of people by giving them a miracle stone. Nirupama gives him a ring and lo and behold, life really changes forever for Thirupathi. Is Baldev alive? Will Thirupathi become a police officer? The rest of the story shows how these parallel tracks get connected and how the baddies meet their end.
Artistes’ Performances:
Ravi Teja plays the cop once again. Like in Vikramarkudu, he looks convincing as the sincere police officer and equally amiable as Thirupathi who dreams of becoming a cop. After Balupu, Power has released with lots of expectations and he does try to do his best to do justice to his characters. But age is catching up on mass maharaj and the director should have taken care not to put in too many tight shots. Otherwise, he is his usual self.
Coming to the leading ladies, Hansika looks pretty glamourous and pulls off her role with ease. She dresses well and dances well. In short, she is what the mass audience would want to see in a commercial entertainer.
Regina plays the good Samaritan Vaishnavi who runs the orphanage Aasha Foundation. Due to some misunderstanding, she walks into the life of Baldev without realizing who he is and ends up falling for him. Though her character is killed half way through the second half, Regina tries to make the most of her presence. However, due to the nature of her character, she does not get to do the usual bare all act of a commercial heroine. Instead she gets to dance around in sarees and big bindis.
As for the baddies, both Sampath Raj and Mukesh Raj put in decent performances as always. Ajay and Subbaraju as honest cops are also predictable.
Brahmanandam as Animutyam and Saptagiri as Hansika’s sidekick do manage to evoke few laughs. Kota as Baldev’s uncle is his usual best.
Technical Excellence:
Since Power falls into the typical commercial entertainer genre, all departments are well taken care of. Music is by SS Thaman and the album has a couple of mass numbers that will remain among the top 10 songs in the next few weeks.
Despite having all the commercial elements, Power falls flat due to its story. Like in many movies these days, there are two parallel tracks and when the movie ends, you are bound to leave the theatre feeling a bit disappointed. While Bobby’s debutant attempt at making a huge commercial film is laudable, he fails to hold the audiences’ attention by putting in too many twists.
Highlights:
- A couple of songs
- Lead actors
Drawbacks:
- Screenplay
- Plot
Analysis:
Story of an honest cop is a sure-shot hit at the box office, providing it has ample doses of action and entertainment. Power has enough action and romance. Still, it fails to touch the hearts of the audience. The director tries to make a classic masala dish out of Power. But the problem is that it has very little salt.
Even as the audiences try to figure out how Baldev’s track would evolve, Thirupathi is introduced. And as one tries to get into that track, the story reverts back to Kolkatta. In his attempt to come up with an interesting story, Bobby loses grip over screenplay and second half.
At a time when audiences are craving for new stories and innovative scripts, Bobby feeds them with stock characters like Baldev’s mother and ACP Goutham’s track in the flashback. While both are essential for the story, their treatment is definitely old school.
In all, Ravi Teja fans will be happy watching him play yet another mass character. But Power lacks that extra something which makes for a successful, racy commercial entertainer.
Bottomline: One For Ravi Teja Fans
(Venkat can be reached at [email protected] or https://twitter.com/greatandhranews)
