The high technical values are clearly visible in the massive fighting sequences and brilliantly made songs. In how many films will they show a daredevil hero bravely saving a child and winning favours of a life time from the rich parents of that child? The contrast established between Sathyam Rajesh and Charan is good, but it could have been better. He portrays several moods of the monkey, only to be squandered away in a role that doesn't bank much on his many shades. Brahmanandam despite getting two introductions for two different shades is not a shade better than what he was in some of the caricaturish characters he has played. There surely needed some intense moments, for example, in the scene where Karthik meets the villain for the first time in the latter's home. The script writers' intelligence is borne out by such elements as this: just as you think the game is over, the villain fails to understand the game plan of the hero and starts to even more willingly fall in his trap). The one scene where the hero's character is elevated with suddenness but with good impact has the hero challenging the villain with another identity. Good enough, but the film need not have been reduced to low-brow moments (read the infidelity element, Ali's sloppy comedy, the villain's failure to counter the hero's mind games) till the time of climax when things really start being serious, though run-of-the-mill. While the first half keeps one engaged, the second half falls short of delivering an intense drama.Īfter leaving us in no doubt about the characters and their mission, Vaitla falls back on his forte: comedy.
JP's double role is yet another good idea leveraged fairly well in the climax. Another idea is the comedy of confusion arising out of the assumed double role of Charan, using Rao Ramesh to complement the hero. Using the heroine to elevate the hero (read she rising up, literally, to say 'poleeece') is a good idea. Kona Venkat's dialogues come with a whiff of freshness, they add pep to even mundane conceptualizations. The romantic angle is limited to making Rakul smile whenever she sees the hero and having a song without much delay. Instead of keeping the star busy spouting panegyric (like those we saw in 'Racha'), he allows him to instead be belittled by his dad, play jokes with the villain, and ride on the wave of situational comedy. Srinu Vaitla, having overdone his style of storytelling, here tries his hand at presenting a formulaic story with a star not much known for sharing screen space with a Jayaprakash Reddy, a Sapthagiri, a Posani, a Prthivi Raj, a Brahmanandam. There is more to the villain's background and when it is interval bang, another villain comes from an unexpected quarter. Karthik's unintended forays into Deepak Raj's (the character is played by Arun Vijay) turf bring him into direct confrontation with him. The thread makes a reappearance in the climax, only to be punctuated with a Megastar dose.
Karthik has a lovable sister (Kriti Kharbanda), a mother and a constantly chiding father (Rao Ramesh), and isn't this premise enough to have a family sub-plot woven in the story? It is done, it takes the form of father-son banter and brother-sister sentiment. Charan plays an almost full-fledged star's comedy, revealing in the process the Chiranjeevi in him in a role reversal of sort, Chiranjeevi imitates his son, visibly with pride! Megastar playing Megastar is a magical moment in the climax, amply perking up an otherwise moribund proceeding.Ĭharan plays Karthik, a stuntman working in film industry, mistaken by Riya (Rakul Preet Singh) to be a brave cop out to cleanse the system. Kona Venkat and Gopi Mohan pen a script that blends situational comedy with occasional action and half-hearted romance. Besides, the hero plays a con on the villain, and like in 'Dookudu', shows his intense avatar whenever the opportunity comes (however, it comes only once and it is when Bruce Lee shows his serious hero side, with a topping of a Hindi line - at the lift). Then there is that 'Dookudu' narration which means the story moves forward in even an apparently comedy scene thus, the heroine unintentionally involves her boy friend in unravelling a don-like character's empire. If the villain has a womanising side to him (like a negative character in 'Aagadu' had), the hero plays an instrumental role in exposing that side, complete with playing a Mahesh Babu, with Brahmanandam in tandem. 'Bruce Lee' has traces of 'Aagadu' and 'Dookudu' if one goes beyond scratching the surface.