This film which was launched in 2010 is releasing now and any film that has a delayed release suffers the risk of a leaked report. This happens to be the debut film of Chiranjeevi’s nephew Sai Dharam Tej though his second film Pilla Nuvvu Leni Jeevitam released first and he kind of got acceptance from the public. This lengthy period must have helped him polish his skills for the second movie but this being his debut is far from impressive. A young man who sings and dances on stage and in other words plays a member of a rock band should come with some pre requisites, an innocent and a charming visage, a lean body and a controlled performance. Here he has none, he just shows the confidence to pull off the role.
On the other hand auteur Chowdhary suffers from a heavy Devadas hangover, he even gets his Devadas hero to give a voice over; there are many similarities in terms of execution, not content. It has been shot abroad, multiple songs and a never-ending story. Sadly the debutants here lack the mojo. The story has an Indian pop star Sandy who is knocked off by Dange, aide of Jenna another singer played by Shraddha Das fearing elimination from the top slot. Sandy’s sister Amrita (Sayami Kher) listens to her brother’s last composition and vows to fulfil his last wish by participating in the competition, not knowing who his killer is. She is sent to West Indies by her uncle (Tanikella Bharani) to get a team organised prepare for the big day and bumps into the hero Rock, an incorrigible flirt who joins her team, falls for her but messes up by losing the competition. A crestfallen Amrita leaves him.
It so happens that the mafia group helped by Jenna kidnaps the hero’s sister and at around the same time the plot thickens...oops dilutes, with Tanikella Bharani confessing that he is sold out to Jenna and he helped her kill Sandy. The rest of the story is predictable.
Dharam Tej imitates Ram to a great extent especially while walking in the airport and throwing up his keys. The heroine too looks like the negative lead. A mixture of Indians and foreigners who fill up the screen speaking Telugu in an accent doesn’t help connect emotionally. In the opening scene the hero declares, he is a fan of somebody and says, ‘Andaru athanni Annaiyya antaaru nenu matram mavaiyya antaanu. While you are too sure you will be shown a huge poster of Chiranjeevi, what we see is a Hanuman statue. The director doesn’t confine this glorification to one scene alone.
The film drags, most of the first half of the story is spent in establishing the love story of the lead pair and by break, the story is out. On one occasion the hero says his father is overacting. True, but just not him, most characters do. A huge amount seems to have been spent on the movie, the content and faces just don’t connect. Looks like the director was not in his element anymore.
