Sai and Shujath talk Cinema

Neninthe December 29, 2008

After two dumbed-down attempts at entertaining the audience in Bujjigadu and Chirutha, writer-director Puri Jagannath comes out with a better product. While those films lacked interesting plots, abounded in unnecessary characters and the latter was, more or less, a bunch of random events strung together by a wafer-thin storyline, this film overcomes most of those problems. Puri has admirably woven the screenplay, incorporating numerous issues faced by the various players in the Telugu film industry and that is the USP of this film.

While the film focuses mainly on the struggle of an assistant director (Ravi Teja), his love story with a film dancer (Siya) and his confrontation with a goon (Supreet), these did not really hold my interest. Instead, the minor interludes – the story of a fan, the adulation for his favorite star and the havoc it wreaks on his life, the fans’ dual response to a star’s flop film, the audiences’ dishonest responses for television, the problems faced by producers in an industry with a low success rate and so on – are much more engrossing.

Where the film fails is in its presentation as a commercial film. The songs never seem like a part of the film and some of the action could have been avoided. They don’t really gel with the interesting and very believable issues being tackled. This could have been a better film but Puri needs to applauded for even going this far with a big star.

While Ravi Teja does well as the main protagonist, the film gives a chance for some of the supporting players to get noticed. Younger actors like Sairam Shankar (Danger, 143) and Subbaraju (Shock) get good parts as the fan and the star respectively. Debutant Siya is alright for her part and Supreet looks menacing. Seasoned players like Sayaji Shinde and Brahmanandam (as director Idli Viswanath) chip in and Mumaith Khan gets a cameo.

Chakri’s score has a couple of hummable tunes but nothing particularly noteworthy (and his singing is as irritating as ever).

If you are looking for entertainment, you can safely skip this one. If you are in the mood for a relatively sensible commercial Telugu film (considering that the oxymoron were possible), this wouldn’t be a bad choice.