As a defence to the repetitive fare that we’re subjected to at the movies, filmmakers have often argued that there are only a handful of tales to be told through which a few relationships are explored. In a broad sense of storytelling, that argument may be valid but the lethargy to look for new contexts and settings of these stories have led to mediocre, monotonous films of late. Once in a while, a few storylines offer hope — a thought or a sequence that makes one perk up and feel something new is in the offing. That hope, sadly, vanishes after the fleeting smartness is drowned, yet again, in a routine muddle. Loukyam , which gives its leading man a refreshing characterisation, falls into this trap.
Venky (Gopichand) relies more on his smart thinking than muscle power to wriggle out of tough situations. He helps a bride elope from a wedding being conducted against her wishes in Warangal and moves to Hyderabad. Her brother and don Babji (Sampath Ral) launches a massive search to find the man who helped his sister elope. In Hyderabad, Venky falls in love with an arrogant Chandrakala (Rakul Preet) only to realise much later that she is Babji’s youngest sister. Meanwhile, there’s another don (Mukesh Rishi) who wants to kill Chandrakala to settle scores for an old enmity with Babji.
To stretch this thin storyline and show how the hero uses tact and wit to set things right, the director resorts to the tried and tested method — make the gang of villains and Brahmanandam run around in circles under the same roof with the hero having a ball of time pitting one against the other.
Brahmanandam, as the connecting link between the don and Gopichand, has been in such situations in several films before. It’s to his credit that he doesn’t get bored and manages to bring the house down in some scenes. The hide-and-seek between Sampath Raj and Brahmi when they don’t know each other’s identity is a riot.
The only one who steals the thunder from Brahmi in a couple of well-written scenes is Prudhvi, a character artiste who hasn’t been given noteworthy roles since Khadgam . Prudhvi is cast as ‘boiling star’ Bablu, a television actor whose serial has a script similar to real life and when the two tracks criss-cross, he faces the wrath of the dons.
These fun sequences are few and far between. Most part of Loukyam suffers from an unsteady screenplay that fails to keep us hooked. The romance between Gopichand and Rakul Preet never really connects. For all the talk of diplomacy, the romance takes the ‘taming the shrew’ route that’s been done to death. In the latter portions, the sequences involving Hamsanandini are cringe worthy.
Gopichand fits the bill of a hero who doesn’t want to use force unless pushed to a corner and Rakul Preet looks pretty and does what is expected of her. Sampath Raj is a dependable actor who guarantees good performance but one hopes he doesn’t get repetitive with his choice of roles.
Watch Loukyam for a few laughs. Just don’t expect it to keep you engrossed.
Loukyam
Cast : Gopichand, Rakul Preet Singh and Brahmanandam
Direction : Sriwass
Music : Anup Rubens
Story line : A hero uses his brains than brawn to win his lady love against all odds.
Bottomline : Saved by a few laughs.
