Movie: Speedunnodu
Rating: 2.5/5
Banner: Goodwill Cinema Group
Cast: Bellamkonda Sreenivas, Sonarika, Prakash Raj, Madhunandan, Srinivasa Reddy, Chaitanya Krishna, Ali, Kabir Duhan Singh, Posani Krishna Murali, Tamannaah (item song) and others
Story: S. R. Prabhakaran
Music: DJ Vasanth
Cinematography: Vijay Ulaganath
Editing: Gowtham Raju
Produced by: Bhimenani Sunitha
Screenplay, Dialogues and Direction: Bhimaneni Srinivasa Rao
Release Date: 05 February 2016
Director Bhimaneni who made blockbuster 'Sudigaadu' has teamed up with young hero Bellamkonda Srinivas for 'Speedunnodu'. After the stupendous success of 'Alludu Seenu', Bellamkonda Srinivas signing this film generated good buzz.
The trailers, the presences of top heroine Tamannah in a special song further hiked expectations on the film. Does the film live up to the expectations, let’s find out…
Story:
It is a tale of five friends. Sobhan (Bellamkonda Srinivas) is a rich youth in a village in Rayalseema. He does anything for his friends. When one of his friends is having trouble in conveying his love to a girl, Sobhan goes to help him. And the girl happens to be the one he proposed sometime back. Along with his friend, he travels daily in the bus to her college to make his friend's love successful. But the girl Vasanthi (Sonarika) falls for Sobhan. This creates rift between friends and the story takes many turns.
Artistes’ Performances:
Bellamkonda Srinivas has once again proved that he is good at dances and is very comfortable in action stunts. Where acting is concerned, he still has a lot to learn although there is much improvement from his earlier film “Alludu Seenu”.
Sonarika is miscast for the movie. Tamannah in a single song has set the screen on fire. The friends gang - Srinivas Reddy, Sathya, and Madhunandan have provided some laughs.
Chaitanya Krishna and Kabir are okay. Rao Ramesh and Prakash Raj don't have much to do but in their given characters they have excelled. Jhansi has got a meaty role.
Technical Excellence:
The film has rich production values with superb sets erected for all the songs. Cinematography is also good with brightly lit scenes. Music is catchy. Pace of the movie is very slow. There are some dialogues that have worked very well. But screenplay is not right.
Highlights:
- Climax twist
- Comedy episodes in the first half
Drawbacks:
- Lengthy runtime
- Too slow
- Bad choice of heroine
Analysis:
“Speedunnodu” is remake of Tamil movie “Sundarapandian”. Director Bhimaneni has acquired name for remaking the movies suitable to the tastes of Telugu audiences. In his last movie "Sudigaadu", he has shown his skill for comedy and has repeated same flair with light-hearted moments but in serious matter of the story he under performs.
The story is somewhat different which is all about friendship and betrayal but the screenplay is such that the actual story only comes towards the end of the movie, before that he plays with comedy, and lengthy romantic track.
The "Prema Pavuram" bus track is entertaining but it has been stretched beyond a point. While the movie is pepped up with rich production values and some tongue-in-cheek dialogues, logic has gone for a toss.
Although Bellamkonda Srinivas has good friendship with Kabir Duhan, it is illogical to think that Srinivas doesn't know that Kabir is nephew of heroine. Also Madhunanandan's motive is not convincing. Prakash Raj's character is not at all established well.
Irony is that director Bhimaneni took nearly four years gap after the release of "Sudigaadu" but didn't work on ironing out these logic issues. But the movie's basic story is different from regular masala movies.
Nevertheless the film will help the career of Bellamkonda Srinivas as it is completely focused on him and has put him on the main spotlight.
All in all, unlike "Sudigaadu" Bhimaneni has not come up with perfect remake and unlike "Alludu Seenu" Bellamkonda has come up with a story that is too heavy for him.
Bottom-line: Remake Gone Wrong!
(Venkat can be reached [email protected] or Twitter)
