Predictable pranks

Five friends, all IT sector employees from Visakhapatnam, go trekking to a nearby hill station. One of them, Pujita, spots a yogi, meditating underwater after she goes swimming. As soon as she breaks the news to her unbelieving friends, they are led into his ‘work station’, a dark cave, suitably backlit.

The disbelieving bunch seek a boon, skeptical about whether anything would actually materialise, but, to their surprise, things start working as per the predictions made by the blue-eyed ascetic. The godman even hands over a newspaper with a future date, as wished by one of his new disciples

as a documentary proof to make the logically-oriented young folks get convinced that it is all for real. Armed with this set of prophecies from the modern day Nostradamus, the excited lot, back home, now begin their efforts to see whether they can win the coveted Rs 5 crore, the jewel in the crown that lays in wait for them.

For that bounty to fall in their lap, they are to locate and convince a certain person by name Raju to compete and win the forthcoming national boxing championship, to be held a few months later. From here on, in true cinematic style, one thing leads to the other in a rollercoaster ride of romance, melodrama and heroism.

How it all pans out and what takes place among the booty-seeking bachchas and the lead pair is what the flick all about. AR Murugadoss, a popular director is credited with the storyline for ‘Tuntari’. Two years ago, he co-produced the Tamil original of this Nara Rohith starrer (‘Maan Karate’) which was the biggest hit of its hero Siva Karthikeyan then and who is now one of the contenders for the top slot among the young heroes of Tamil cinema.

All the same, Doss, it seems has not been able to resist ripping out a knot from one of his earlier films ‘Seventh Sense’, released a good five years ago, which also moves on the effect of extra sensory perception, reincarnation, etc. Pruning the comical interludes between the hero and the heroine’s family and cutting down on a few ‘establishing’ scenes of the Chennai hero, director Kumar Nagendra re-orients the Telugu version and reduces the running time by about 25 minutes to make it a short, two-hour film.

Here is where Nagendra misses out on lending the extra dimensions to his protagonist, who is otherwise also heavy set and phlegmatic onscreen. Straitjacketing his abrupt introduction into the film as that of a love-seeking vagabond, he also robs the heroine’s potential USP of being the spirit behind the hero’s ultimate triumph.

The helpless state of Nara Rohith as he is forced to measure up to a professional boxer who shows no mercy does not carry across effectively, with the climax, hardly rousing or gripping enough for the average viewer who loves a good fight anyway. Latha Hegde reprising the role of Hansika Motwani neither manages the oomph nor the wide-eyed naiveté the Tamil version heroine essayed convincingly.

Rohith struggles with his comic timing and despite this, manages a chuckle or two as he keeps shying away from the actual battle. This game of mischief unleashed, thus, ends up being underserved and bland.

Film Name : Tuntari
Cast : Nara Rohith, Latha Hedge and Vennela Kishore
Direction : Kumar Nagendra
Genre : Comedy-action
Likes : Crystal ball gazing & Telugu cinema style
Dislikes : Routine repetition from the original