Aadhi, back after his 'Aravaan', looks good and fit for the role of a fisherman. He has worked out well on his physique and is at ease during stunt and dance sequences, but he has to have more clarity, in terms of emoting, as he goes too contemporary. Lakshmi Manchu, who has also produced the film, plays the role of the heroine. She tries her best to emote and act, but she looks too 'polished' and matured for the role of a young village belle, and her appearance doesn't help either, as she looks much more matured and older than her male pairs ! Chinmayee's dubbing for her, further accentuated the 'polished' element of hers. Sundeep was not bad in his role. Taapsee Pannu, plays an irrelevant and insignificant role in the film. Her character is highly sexual in behavior, who seems to always lust for the hero, just because he accidentally touched her, once ! Her slim and trim figure has been exploited by the camera, purely for titilation factor ! The rest of the cast such as Ravi Babu, Bala Singh, Ramesh, Jeeva, Annapurna, Suja Varunee and etc sufficed the need of the director's script.
The work of the technical department, leaves a lot to be desired, considering the scale of the script. Murali Kondetti's art direction plays a vital part in the film. The village and after-flood scenario of the village has to be created convincingly enough, in order to have the authentic look. Blame it on lack of funds, the art director had to resort to using miniatures to create the village, and to cover it up with VFX. Unfortunately, the result was very tacky, added with the below par VFX work by ECS and EVA Motion Studios. The usage of green screen and miniature was very much evident in the film. M.R Varmaa's editing was not bad, though better works could have been carried out, especially for the flood scenes. M.R Palani Kumaar's cinematography, is the only highlight of the film. He tries to cover-up the below-par patch works, in the art department and also canned some beautiful shots of the magnificent Godavari river. Ganesh's stunt choreography was well handled, especially the night fight sequence, shot on the riverbed.
'Isaignai' Ilaiyaraaja's music was sadly, bland and boring. "Kuthikudhamma" is the introductory song for Aadhi and has plenty of shots of the Godavari river. The song was picturization on Aadhi and his gang, dancing around lakes and riverbeds, interspersed with some montages. "Chikki Mukki" was shot on Aadhi and Taapsee, also shot on riverbeds and barren lands, coupled with some shots taken on simple and decently erected sets. "Raathiri Nerathu" is a rehash of 'Isaignani's' classic "Aasaiye Kaathule" from 'Johnny'. The song was shot in a very crass manner, focusing on the ample assets of Mumaith Khan, and also with shots of Aadhi and Taapsee, having an illicit tryst of one-night-stand. "Alaiyodu" is a montage song shot on Sundeep and Lakshmi, picturizing their growth from kids to young adults. The song was mostly shot in and around the village areas. "Engu Irukku" is a song, again shot on Sundeep and Lakshmi, who are on a mission of spotting and buying the 'perfect' rooster for cockfight. "En Ooru" is another crass song, this time shot on Suja Varunee, gyrating and prancing with the villagers and Sundeep, in a simple stage backdrop. Raja sir's background score is impressive in certain places, but sounds too contemporaneous.
Apart from the shoddy VFX, the biggest drawback of the film, was the horrendous dubbing. What was the intention of the director and producer ? To do a bilingual film or a straight Telugu film, which can be dubbed into Tamizh ? End of the day, it is indeed a straight Telugu film, which has been dubbed for the Tamizh market, sparing a few scenes. What's the need for a couple of original scenes, when all that you're going to do is to simply dub ? The directorial work was poor, with bad continuity issues, unimpressive story telling and unemotionally-charged sequences. Though the story is based on P.V.S Rama Rao's novel, the flood element, was only used as an initial attention-grabber, rather than being the main backdrop of the film. There's no cohesion in the screenplay, and the script is just plainly insipid, in terms of writing.
Tamizh cinema audiences are known to forgive and forget. 'Maranthen Mannithean' - No pun intended, Kumar Nagendra ?
Ratings: 1.5/5 STARS
BY:TAMIL
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