Saturday, September 01, 2012

Srimannarayana movie review - BalaKrishna


When you saw the 52-year-old Balakrishna on television, with two heroines half his age, on either side of him, all squeezed tightly in a two-seater couch, at a function to celebrate the 'success' of the movie's music, you can take a guess what he would be up to in his film. All through the film as one saw later, the two heroines vie with each other for the actor's attention even as his hands take all the liberty they want with them. All this, while he is after a bank password to get retrieve the Rs 5,000 crore meant for farmers welfare, which is illegally transferred to their account by a set of goons.

Story Line:
Kalki Narayana Murthy (Vijay Kumar) is a man of noble intention to serve the poor. He seen as a social activist who fights for the welfare of farmers. He also happens to be Srimannarayana’s father and he forms a Jai Kisan Trust for the welfare of farmers. Public responds in a big way to this initiative and the fund receives donations to the tune of 5000Crores. Bank officer Rajan Mudaliar (Kota Srinivasa Rao) , Corporate Hospital chief Srikar Prasad (Nagineedu) and IG Marthand (Rao Ramesh) also support the initiative.

Kalki Narayana Murthy son Srimannarayana (Balakrishna) is an exact photocopy of his father. He is a journalist by profession. He works for a television channel and unearths a couple of scams. But the goons gang comprising of Minister Bylu Reddy (Jayaprakash Reddy) , Harshad Kotari (Suresh) and Pulikeshava Reddy (Supreeth) loses a lot of money because of Srimannarayana’s activities. The goons illegally transfer the money to themselves and also kills Narayana Murthy mysteriously and even manage to put Srimannarayana in jail by making him an accused in the crime.

Srimannarayana is in jail, but he is itching to expose the real criminals. And he takes the help of Swapnika (Parvathi Melton), a rival from a different channel. Srimannarayana's mission is not only to get the password of the bank account into which the huge amount was siphoned off, but also to eliminate each of the gang members. But how can he do that when he is lodged in a jail in the Cherlapalli jail?

There are interesting twists to the story as Srimannarayana is shown making full use of the latest technology right from the beginning of the movie. Don't complain about his costumes. They are loud. But that comes with being Balakrishna. At least, Isha Chawla who plays Bhanu, his fiancee, could have made more of an effort to look better in the songs. Perhaps, even Parvathi Melton had no choice in her wardrobe.

Positives:
Balakrishna is good in the role of an angry journalist. He has done well in the emotional scenes and his dialogue delivery is impressive as always. His pre-interval costume in white robes is good. Isha Chawla looks good and has sufficient oomph to attract the masses. She has good potential as an actress and will go a long way in the industry if she takes care of her career well.

Comedy scenes between Balakrishna, Parvati Melton, Duvvasi Mohan and Isha Chawla are a major highlight for the film. Dialogues for these episodes have been cleverly written and the hidden double meanings will work with the masses.

Vijaykumar is decent. Kota Srinivasa Rao, Jayaprakash Reddy and Rao Ramesh are good. Nagineedu does not have much to do but he turns in a dignified performance. Krishna Bhagawan and M.S.Narayana have a few good moments between them.

Concept of the film and basic story line has appeal. Balakrishna’s dialogues on scams and the CBI evoked a good response from the public. The last song “Aaru Adugula” is good and has been shot well.

Negatives:
Care should have been taken with respect to Balakrishna’s wigs and costumes in songs. Also, there is no justification in the story for Balakrishna to appear in various costumes except for the Narasimha Swamy look.

Parvati Melton looks uncomfortably thin, almost anorexic. She is a major turn off and her glamour has all but disappeared. She needs to put on some weight immediately.

The second half of the film and the climax are weak points. Climax in particular is highly cliched and does not bring about any interest in the film. Also, the CBI does not seek to investigate the destination account to which the 5000 Crores were transferred. It is a matter of simple logic to checkout the account to which money was transferred illegally.

Some scenes where Balakrishna moves in and out of the jail with ease look silly.

Technology:
There is no novelty in the Story of the movie, director Ravi Chawali follows a time-tested formula but made sure that there are ample commercial elements that satisfy the thrust of masses and fans. He projected Bala Krishna in the right way and extracted powerful mass performance. Screenplay of the movie is predictable which became an hindrance in the flow of the movie. Direction is good in parts.

Surrender Reddy’s cinematography technique is good. The songs composed by Chakri suited Balayya’s image but to normal audience, they might be a bit outdated.

Ravi Chavali does not impress too much with his direction. He has managed to do a good job in a few scenes but overall, better care should have been taken. He has not pulled off the emotional aspects of the story well.

Is your Penny worth for it:
The first half of the movie began on a slower note and picked pace from the pre interval scene and second half is good with ample mass elements required by Balayya fans. A slightly more gripping screenplay would have added weight to the movie. The movie goes well with fans especially Balayya’s looks and energy and it will be okay for normal audience. The concept of farmer welfare will also appeal to some. A better second half and a more interesting climax would have helped.The box office success of the movie depends on how masses receive it.

Banner: Yellow Flowers Banner
Presenter: RR Movie Makers
Cast: Nandamuri Balakrishna, Isha Chawla, Parvati Melton, Vijay Kumar, Suresh, Vinod Kumar Kota Srinivasa Rao, Jaya Prakash Reddy and others
Cinematography: T.Surender Reddy
Art: Nagender
Editing: Goutham Raju
Music: Chakri
Producer: Ramesh Puppala
Story-Screenplay- Dialogues-Direction: Ravi Chavali
CBFC rating: A
Released on: 30-Aug-2012