Nani’s Double dhamaka

For a film which has a mythological kind of a title, made famous by illustrious names like N T Rama Rao and A Nageswara Rao which was originally released in 1963, the modern version is a direct contrast, with its contemporary feel and chic locales.

‘Natural Star’ Nani, the most successful star at the box office for more than two years now with a string of hits, dons two characters – one a total desi type with Chittoor- accent Telugu and the other a rockstar based out of Prague, with its imposing buildings and open public spaces.

Director Merlapaka Gandhi, with two solid hits behind him, wields the megaphone in this venture which takes off in a pastoral, hilly backdrop of Rayalaseema, a hitherto unexplored shooting spot in Telugu cinema.

Making the hero adopt the local lingo must have been a dual advantage for the director as he himself hails from the region and cleverly interjecting the scenes one after the other at two different places, one in India and the other abroad, Gandhi develops the characters of his lead star interestingly in the first half.

While the smalltowner is a do-gooder, who falls for the sarpanch’s granddaughter (Rukshar Dhillon) and is asked to stay away by the girl’s family, the slick playboy type rock star, who has a list of 221 girls in his mobile phone is a scheming, self-centered kind. Naturally, he is spurned by the girl whom he considers his soul mate (Anupama Parameswaran) as she is not convinced of his commitment.

By a turn of fate, both the girls land in Hyderabad with their suitors in hot pursuit. Here is where the director brings in a rather wafer-thin track of girl trafficking into the story, with the operators moving in and out of the Old City hideouts.

The heroines become unexpected targets as a natural development and both the macho boys now have only one solitary mission: to save them and unite the other hapless girls with their families, which forms the climax, shot at an offshore location, a different sort of an experience for Telugu film viewers.

While the pace of the film is at a breakneck speed, it still leaves you a little cheated as the villains are shown as tame, non-resistant types, exhibiting no viciousness typical of such kinds of activities in which they indulge in. It is too easy for the heroes to break in and break out of their dark zones at will and make the bad guys do everything they want, which is quite deflating.

Yet, for the energy that Nani packs in into the local role and the style which he invests in the other, he deserves compliments. Anupama is her natural, silent and strong type while Rukhsar has a pleasing and defined edge to her character.