The Tamil movie 'Vedalam' (2015) has been remade at least six years late. Pawan Kalyan was the first hero to fall in love with it. Fortunately for him, he couldn't do the remake. As bad luck would have it, the itch got transferred to Chiranjeevi in 2020. He decided to helm the long-pending remake, which finally hit the screens this Friday. Let's find out how the movie is.
Plot:
Shankar (Chiranjeevi) used to do real-estate settlements in Hyderabad. He moves to Kolkata with his adopted sister Mahalakshmi (Keerthy Suresh) after an incident. Once in the new city, Shankar has his eyes set on a mafia network manned by a dreaded human trafficker (Tarun Arora). By the interval, Shankar has gone far enough to scare the daylights out of the antagonist. The second half is about how he overpowers the villain and his empire.
Performances:
Expectations from Chiranjeevi were diminished by 'Acharya'. But 'Waltair Veerayya' was special. 'Bholaa Shankar', more or less, has him in an out-and-out commercial role. Even in the tragedy-struck flashback, he is seen having fun with two women (Sreemukhi and Rashmi Gautham) and a bunch of sidekicks (Bithiri Sathi, Satya, Getup Srinu, Tagubothu Ramesh, Venu Tillu and Lobo). Except when he is pulverizing the baddies, he is in fun mode.
Tamannaah Bhatia and Keerthy Suresh get contrasting roles. The former is a fun-loving, naughty, inept lawyer. The latter comes with a tragic past and Shankar is her world. There are a dozen comedians but they barely get any funny lines to speak. The film is cast-heavy and humour-lite. Vennela Kishore is a timid husband and an over-the-top boss. Raghu Babu, Hyper Aadhi, Viva Harsha, Brahmanandam (in a cameo) and others have been cast in ineffective roles. Shawar Ali, Ravi Shankar and Brahmaji are cast in negative roles.
Technical Departments.
Mahati Swara Sagar's background music is ear-splitting at times. The BGM doesn't keep apace with the new trends heralded by the likes of Anirudh Ravichander and Santosh Narayanan. Dudley's cinematography is nothing home to write about. The production design is too generic and chaotic, too. Too many scenes appear to have been set in the backdrop of crowded locales.
On the other hand, the fights take place in posh and palatial buildings. Everything looks artificial and studio-like. Marthand K Venkatesh didn't get to tinker with the core material much. The action choreography by the Ram-Laxman duo and the dance choreography by Sekhar VJ are passable.
Plus Points:
Chiranjeevi's screen presence. But don't expect him to hit it out of the park.
A couple of emotional scenes between Chiru and Keerthy in the second half.
Minus Points:
Meher Ramesh's superficial screenplay and boring dialogues.
Some over-the-top moments involving the heroine.
A weak track involving Sushanth and Keerthy.
A couple of needless episodes in the second half.
A flashback that overstays its welcome.
An outdated storyline.
Vox Verdict:
'Bholaa Shankar' is an avoidable remake that takes the audience's tastes for granted. A run-of-the-mill formula and a feeble sentimental hook have been deployed in the name of entertainment. It is a snoozefest of sorts.
Rating: 2 / 5
