New look... no luck

For starters, this isn't a 'Santosham' sequel, but could have been 'one' had the writing not gone berserk as the going got tough. With a star who is synonymous with romance, the offering has nothing to show his expertise nor for that matter to make him stand apart. A resident of US, Chandu is a successful event manager and a playboy who hardly believes in relationships. 'Never get into relationships, as they end up giving you pain' is what his mother tells him- during childhood. On the other hand is Sandhya (Nayantara), a volunteer of 'Make A Wish Foundation' that fulfills the dreams of kids whose lives are cut-shortened due to terminal ailments. A complete contrast to Chandu, she believes that 'everything is possible through love'. Ending up in a case that requires him to pay huge ransom to PR (Ashish Vidyarthi), Chandu begins his journey to India in the hope of getting some money from his grandfather (K Viswanath). Sandhya accidentally bumps into him at the airport and their friendship sparkles.

Landing in AP, things take a U-turn after Chandu to his family says that he is married to Sandhya. On his insistence, she pretends to be his wife and as the day nears for him to get back to US, he narrates about his real being to Thatha. Next in US, he gets a jolt after Sandhya is made to know about his Casanova life. A changed human being by now, he is out to woo her back. What sets 'Santosham' apart from 'Greeku Veerudu' is the purity in terms of story. If director Dasaradh wrote sequences that are truly original and go with the situations in 'Santosham' besides deft handling, he does an opposite over here. Half-way down he packages situations in the plot that are far from convincing- Brahmanandam's antics to score a point over Chandu, videogame kind of heroics that Chandu resorts to fulfill the wish of a kid and many more leading up to the climax were simply uncalled for. At the helm of affairs expect Dasaradh not to take inspiring performances from his supporting cast and he repeats the mistake this time too! Sorry state of affairs. It's the director's duty to extract performances from his cast-be it supporting cast or the lead cast. But his American cast and the likes of Meera Chopra, Raghu Babu, Kashi Viswanath and Nagi Reddy are far from natural. Ms Chopra, no wonder has bagged any plum projects after 'Bangaram'. However, the music compensates for the lack of substance in the film. Except for a particular dance moment of Nag in Ne Vinnadi Nejamaena, the song's visuals go with the lead pair's charisma. Onadu Washington� and the title number too, provide some relief. Few dialogues by Dasaradh on relationships indicate their prominence. Given an uninspiring script, you can't expect even the best in the business to come up with shining performances and this film is an example of it. Nag at 53 can still give youngsters a run for their money with the looks and Nayan, though is not at her usual lean best, comes up with a decent performance. The ever reliable K Viswanath does what is expected of him. All said and done, 'Greeku Veerudu' is heavily letdown by a script that meanders all the way. It definitely could have been better. Moreover, the title has absolutely no relevance to the story. Greeku Veerudu Cast: Nagarjuna, Nayantara and K Viswanath Music: SS Thaman Direction: Dasaradh Genre: Romantic drama Rating ** 1/2