Puri Jagannadh has delivered just one box-office hit in more than ten years. His films following Pawan Kalyan's 'Cameraman Ganga Tho Rambabu' lacked ambition and ideas. 'iSmart Shankar', his sole hit in more than a decade, rode on the Mani Sharma creativity and the Ram Pothineni energy.
What really ails Puri is that he doesn't watch others' movies at all. It has been many, many years since he has watched a movie made by other filmmakers. At least, that's what he has indicated on a couple of occasions. He once said that he tried to watch 'Arjun Reddy' only because his wife had told him to check out what other directors are doing. "My wife felt that I was becoming outdated. She asked me to watch movies made by new-age directors," he added.
Would Vijay Deverakonda's 'Liger' have been so bad had Puri known what kind of expectations the audience have from action entertainers in the post-pandemic era? No. He should start watching others' movies at least for the sake of his son Akash Puri's career.
The success of 'iSmart Shankar' was a fluke. 'Double iSmart' is the real deal. It is up to the director, who once made blockbusters like 'Pokiri', to perform or perish. This year is the most crucial for him.
