Introduction
After a gap of nearly fifteen years, the thriller-melody genre of Vamsi-Ilayaraja comes alive. Treating a native element with the treatment of a Hollywood flick, Vamsi succeeds in creating the desired effect, but the stuff is entirely pushed to a suspense corner, ignoring the regular entertainment elements such as comedy, song and dance.
Plot
Dheerappan (film caricature of dreaded and dead Veerappan) gets killed in the shootout of the police. A reporter Basu alias Bavaraju Suryanarayan (Aryan Rajesh) has full knowledge of the secret treasure trove of Dheerappan in the Nityamangalam (slight change of real name Satyamangalam) forests. Based on the diary of the dead smuggler, Basu formulates a sketch to lift the forest treasure. He hires the services of a doctor Devika (Hansa Nandini), guide (Jaya Prakash Reddy) a bomb diffusing squad led by an expert lady (Vanitha Reddy), a cook and a driver. They make a move towards the forests in a hired vehicle and enter the same. Having risked their lives, the treasure-hunters swoop on the trove. All of a sudden, the team members get killed one after the other. By the time the survivors come to know what’s happening, they are nearly finished. Who is the killer? – It forms the main suspense.
Performance
Aryan Rajesh is lucky to have ample scope to display his histrionics in this suspense and thriller genre. His role as a treasure hunter is neat.
Introduction heroine Hansa Nandini is glamorous in parts. She holds nothing special to get any special appreciation.
All the other characters have rendered their job excellently within the ambit of the storyline and its screen requirement.
Technical Values
Story by Akella Vamsikrishna holds novelty and at the same stands nearer to reality in its treatment. Vamsi, considered being one of the most artistic and clever directors of Telugu cinema, has brought back his mark of thing by dwelling into this thriller genre. To be short, Vamsi had cut through the regular news of Smuggler Veerappan death and even went beyond it – coming closer to the real life misadventures of some of the youth in Satyamangalam area, after the brigand’s shootout.
After one-and-half-a-decade, the background magic is enlivened thanks to the profound combination of Vamsi and maestro Ilayaraja. Rerecording is considered the lifeline of this flick as it gave the much-required suspended animation of the audience in the theatre. The movie begins without any interest and the same thread continues for several minutes. However, the monotony is broken just before the interval. Coming to second half, much of the thriller genre is played out to the full, thereby bringing an exciting climax. Cinematography is good, but much care is not taken in delivering the required time effects (such as creating night atmosphere during day light). Stunts department is handled neatly. Lack of adequate comedy comes as a minus point, though the film stands out to be a thriller genre.Coming to characterization, the romance streak between the doctor and the journalist (hero and heroine) is neither evolved nor finished at the desired levels, bringing a feel of raw deal.
Judgment
The movie is opened to an average talk. True to the suspense-loaded title, the film too holds something worthy only to the freaks of thrillers.
