: : : Khaaleja Review By Coolcat (Srinivas) : : :

 

 

Trivikram moves out of his genre of stories revolving around family sentiments and goes the jagamantha kutumbam route where he deals with emotions and sentiments of an extended family of villagers, weaving the story with threads of corporate greed, decline of personal ethics, government apathy to backwardness of our rural masses plagued by age old beliefs or superstition in the face of hopelessness and the role of human beings as harbingers of good in the face of evil. For the superstitious, downtrodden and hopeless seeking succor and deliverance, a God or a Messiah is the route but for the thinking man fighting all odds to do good is next to Godliness and herein lies the message Trivikram seeks to deliver - there is God in all of us if we work unselfishly for the good of our fellow humans.

Cab driver Sitarama Raju is witness to brutalities committed in urban AP for the sake of corporate greed but is unaware of the same corporate greed's heinous crimes against humanity in rural AP. His cab gets battered in the urban confrontation and gets set up to visit a forlorn place where he can be finished off; however, things take a turn when the urban and rural worlds collide in the desert sands of Rajasthan. Superstition collides with pragmatism and thereon an interesting tale unfolds into a cruel world of corporate greed trumping all notions of superstition and pragmatism at the altar of unadulterated profit.

Prakash Raj's character as the symbol of unethical corporate greed gets highlighted in scenes where he confronts his son over Anushka's running away, his unflinching killing of his own henchmen for minor intransigence, his wheeling dealing with Tanikella over his daughter's marriage for the sake of controlling the flow of raw materials for his company, using effluents from the company to crush the lives and spirit of a whole village as a byproduct of his profit mongering, building up into a crescendo before the inevitable climax confrontation scene. It is typical Bond villain characterization but also natural enough to fit into the current corporate environment with no attempt at making him cinematically cruel and overboard just for the sake of resuscitating barnyard Telugu cinema. The only complaints against Prakash Raj are (1) he is in such poor shape physically, the irascible Raju might as well have gone after him for his weight issues than going after Subhashini (Anushka) and (2) e could have toned down a bit on his incessant screaming in the climax (though with your hand cut off and in pain, I'm not sure anyone wouldn't be screaming incessantly).

Shafi and Ravu Ramesh as the symbols of age old beliefs, with Ravu Ramesh as the local village soothsayer and Shafi as the typical blind-believer, lend sufficient credence to the pain and anguish of corporate and governmental apathy towards our downtrodden villages. They lived in their characters as despondent succor seekers. Shafi turns in a decent performance laying to rest all doubts over his capacity to tone down on his acting. Even though there are a couple of sparks of that over enthusiasm coming through, they weren't jarring and added weight to the character. For a Muslim to essay the role of a Shiv bhakta is not easy and as Shafi lives in that role in the Sada Shiva song, his acting capabilities take on new meaning. His last scene with Mahesh earns him plenty of kudos for the pathos it generates.

Mahesh is the symbol of pragmatism as a brash cab driver and unrepentant disbeliever in the principle that man can be God until he is slowly led along the path of attaining a level of belief in the quality of goodness being next to Godliness. The script work that takes us along the journey from disbelief to belief is to be commended. Mahesh is at his comedic best, churning out one liners with the ease and timing of a veteran and as typical of such a genre the burden of carrying the film falls on his shoulders. He carries that off with panache in a way no one has done on the Indian screen before, except the best of superstars like Rajanikanth and Amitabh Bachchan. His evolution from a typically restrained performer into a brash exuberant performer is a sight to see. His youth, charm, grace in dances, the usual intensity in fights, Trivikram's typical one liners as delivered by Mahesh in a different slang and modulation all unfold on screen like never before. Despite insufficent help from the screenplay by Trivikram, Mahesh ensures the film does not devolve into inanity.

Anushka has a pretty staid role as the bumbling rich brat and while her romantic chemistry with Mahesh doesn't quite gel given the nature of her role and the way it was scripted, comedic sparks fly when Mahesh and Anushka share screen space. A plethora of comedic talent like Sunil, Dharmavarapu, Brahmanandam and Ali provide additonal fun while M S Narayana is again given short shrift by Trivikram. Kota and Raghubabu also did their bit. Tanikella Bharani is okay as the heroine's father. Archana (Veda) and Subba Raju have small roles to further the story along and they were adequate.

Trivikram has to be commended for choosing a subject out of the normal realm of Tollywood standards. He succeeded to an extent in delivering his message but it requires the audience to put on their thinking caps for a change. His detailed research into the industrial uses of sugarcane and a demonstration of the capabilities of new technology that is possible from sugarcan is also commendable. As any typical potboiler, his screenplay is also riddled with requiring the audience to have a willing suspension of disbelief. Trivikram scores better as a dialogue writer than a screenplay writer in this film.Cinematography by Guhan, Sunil Patel and Yash Bhatt is of high quality, especially in the way the barren landscapes of Rajasthan and Pali have been captured. Choreographer Raju Sundaram is his usual self in two songs he choreographed and is getting routine, Mumbai choreographer Ahmed Khan is out of his league here and Pream Rak$hith did a commendable job in the last song Makathika. Costume designer Mamata Anand deserves special mention.

Mani Sharma's background score is the soul of the film. His music for a couple of numbers like Sada Shiva, Piliche and Makathika are a joy to watch on screen. This light, frothy comedy adventure in the style of Indiana Jones series is worth your price of admission. From the start when Mahesh enters the screen into the desert fight to the one liners that keep coming till the end in an Indiana Jones kind of way, there is ample entertainment for the masses and classes alike.

: : : Reviewed By Srinivas (coolcat) for www.princemahesh.com : : :