It is…
A film that answers a lot of questions. For instance, why Mahesh Babu chooses to do the same over and over?
The plot…
The film kicks off in Rajasthan (Why the film starts there is later revealed. The fascination of shooting a desert seems like a more genuine reason than what the film tells us about why we are there). The entire first half seems like a typical Trivikram screenplay which had been messed around by commerciality. The film is stagnant almost through the first installment as a series of imposed comic episodes take their toll.
The film’s central intension of a hamlet waiting for God to show up to save them for the increasing deaths arrives at the end of the first half. This is when a stabbed Raju (Mahesh) is spotted by the Shafi (the Shiva devotee sent out to find the savior). After the rather Magadheeraish sequence the film is at its entertaining best in first few minutes of the second half as Raju tries to disprove to the villagers their belief in him to be God.
Clichés of usual commercial cinema are in plenty as the second half moves on and we arrive at the end which sort of reminds us that this is ‘no special movie’.
What’s good?
The visual sense of the desert sequences in particular were breath taking. Even though the film’s visual as a whole is very glamorized (very Telugu), it still stands out.
What could have been better?
Trivikram’s dialogue brush has not lost its wit, but, is getting sucked into patterns and repetitive patterns at that.
The action episodes are as Mahesh as possible with that touch of Trivikram to them. With more money comes the need for more action and less brains to the script.
Do films really need all those songs?
Actors.
Mahesh tries real hard to get into a new sort of extravagant persona and fails miserably. May be he should just stick to the only thing he knows, just staring here and there, not much talking and the smile now & then.
Prakash Raj, Anushka and the other usual set (Ali, Sunil etc) do as told.
The Shiva devotees – Shafi and Rao Ramesh were somewhat of a relief in the acting department.
Verdict.
What’s bold about this film is that they give out a straight statement stating that the hero is God. The protagonist does nothing new; it’s just that they’ve answered the long unanswered question of how these dudes do all that.
The film’s visual might cheat you into ‘looking for reason’. Abandon that and it is an easy watch.
