Movie: Soukyam
Rating: 1.5/5
Banner: Bhavya Creations
Cast: Gopichand, Regina, Mukehsh Rishi, Pragati, Surekha Vani, Brahmanandam, Prudhvi, Pradeep Rawat and others
Story, Dialogues: Sreedhar Seepana
Screenplay: Kona Venkat, Gopi Mohan
Music: Anup Rubens
Cinematography: Prasad Murella
Editing: Gowtham Raju
Produced by: V Anand Prasad
Directed by: A S Ravi Kumar Chowdhary
Release Date: December 24, 2015
Gopichand came back on the success track last year with Loukyam, a good entertainer and A S Ravi Kumar Chowdhary was also back in the league with Pilla Nuvvu Leni Jeevitham.
So the hit duo coming together had raised good expectations. Even the trailers were good. So does the movie live up to the hype?
Story:
For Seenu (Gopichand) it is love at first sight with Sailaja (Regina) when they are travelling from Hyderabad to Tirupati. In a typical cinematic manner, she avoids him but later reveals that she too fell for him at first sight.
Twist in the tale is that Sailaja turns out to be daughter of a very powerful political broker in Kolkota who is planning to marry off his daughter to Chief Minister’s son. Sailaja doesn’t like this alliance.
On the other hand Seenu’s father doesn’t like to make alliances with people who are violent. Then how he wins his love is the rest of the drama.
Artistes’ Performances:
This must be the most comfortable movie for Gopichand as the movie doesn’t make him work hard. Just plain silly role and he has performed without putting any effort to make it better either.
Regina has looked very gorgeous in the songs and she is the best part of the movie. Prudhvi’s comedy is somewhat okay but the spoofs are too lengthy. There are plenty of actors but none make any impression.
Technical Excellence:
Prasad Murella has given his best output. Anup’s music is decent but none of them are catchy. The action sequences are nothing to talk about.
Highlights:
- Some comedy scenes
Drawbacks:
- Hodge-podge scenes
- Kichidi formula of screenplay
- Lengthy runtime
- Predictable second half
- Too many silly spoofs
Analysis:
Once done it is novelty. If you change it a bit and present it in same manner again, even then it can be excused. If it is done repeatedly, it is no longer soukyam for audiences. Gopichand and A S Ravikumar Chowdhary’s Soukyam stinks full with stale scenes.
Heroine coming into hero’s house and some artistes are called in to act as heroine’s father and mother to impress the hero’s father which leads to confusion and thereby generating some laughs. This beaten to death formula has been used by writers Kona Venkat and Gopi Mohan in many movies and is again the basis of this film.
The writers’ team must be enjoying comfortably that they made directors and producers’ big bakras by giving same scene paper for every movie yet being paid handsomely but the audiences don’t get that soukyam in the theatre.
There is no proper script to begin with; hence the writers and director have filled the movie with a comedy scene after comedy scene and a spoof after a spoof. Some comedy scenes are funny but many of them are just plain bore.
Regina’s father in the film is introduced as most powerful person but he acts like a local street leader. Pradeep Rawath’s role is another hackneyed one. The family drama involving Mukesh Rishi brings more yawns.
Although the first half of the movie is somewhat okay, the second half makes you want to search for the immediate exit door.
Gopichand’s lack of interest in the film is also quite visible with his dull performance. Also the so-called comedy and spoofs are too predictable.
Bramhanandam’s lengthy climax episode is perfect example how lazy the writing is in the movie. The writers clearly ran out of ideas.
All in all, after delivering a hit with Pilla Nuvvu Leni Jeevitham, director A S Ravi Kumar Chowdhary looked for his soukyam that leaves audiences in kashtam and dukham.
Bottomline: Uncomfortable comedy!
(Venkat can be reached [email protected] or Twitter)
