Warning: Spoilers Alert

The following article is by a user and is not IndiaGlitz's take towards anyone or anything. Written by Krishna Velury

The Business Man - a risky move by Mahesh and Puri, but is it better than the commercial blockbuster Dookudu?

Minor Spoilers.

This is not a review in the traditional sense. What I mean is that I will not be giving a rating. Ratings are subjective; my 5-star rating may be a 2-star rating for you, and so on. This is a critical take on The Business Man and what it is trying to do when compared to Mahesh's earlier films, mainly Dookudu and Pokiri.

Dookudu is the epitome of South Indian cinema: "daring and dashing" hero, pretty and perky heroine, plenty of laughs thanks to Bramhanandam and MS Narayana, a few fights, and an emotional touch through a father-son story. Srinu Vaytla is a skilled comedic director, known to make audiences laugh for hours on end. However, after Dhee and Ready, I feel his formula has gotten a little stale over the course of his films. Vaytla utilizes almost the same situations and characters (Bramhi an important role) in every film to generate comedy. Nagarjuna's King also had the plot of fooling an entire family, just like Dhee and Ready before it. And Namo Venkatesha (my least favorite Vaytla film - and this is coming from a big Venkatesh fan) failed to evoke but a few laughs from me, due to its lack of originality. Nevertheless, Dookudu had a lot going for it. Even though some of the comedy wasn't totally new or fresh, it had a good lead pair, hit songs and background music thanks to Thaman (the Mani Sharma of movies these days), and ultimately good commercial value. The story is light-hearted and it basically ends up as a laugh riot as Prince Mahesh tries to fool as many people as possible. And of course, audiences from all backgrounds embraced it with open arms, making it a huge box-office success.

After the super hit Dookudu, Mahesh decided to make another film with Puri Jagannath, going back to his action roots. I still think Pokiri is still arguably his best film, and really molded his mafia/goonda persona onscreen. And just as I thought The Business Man would end up as sort of a "Pokiri 2", I was proven wrong.

The Business Man works on many levels, but ultimately it is a story of a man drunken with power, and going out to bring justice (along with everything under his control). Surya, Mahesh's character, is on a mission to bring Mumbai and the rest of India to its knees, and to create a safer and better place for his Indian brothers and sisters. His actions are questionable. Are we supposed to like this lover boy who flirts with the heroine in one scene, but later ends up killing a bunch of people "for the greater good"? The merit of this film is not the message Puri is trying to convey, but the fact that it makes us ask ourselves what we look for in a hero. Surya is not simply a "milk boy" that Mahesh plays usually. He is a carefully etched character with many grey shades who has a reason for everything he says and does. But do the ends justify the means? At the end of the day Puri is trying to make us question the actions and the words of the hero in our films (just as Ram Gopal Varma has done so many times). Mahesh is able to bring this characterization flawlessly, thanks to Puri's tight direction and powerful one-liners.

The film is missing a few things if you are looking for a mass masala entertainer. Sure, there is an over-abundance of songs (including an item number), and violence is definitely in abundance, but staple comedians like Bramhanandam, MS, and Ali are sorely missing. The advantage of this is that the story and screenplay goes at a tight pace, not once stopping for comic relief to see what Bramhi's character is up to. In fact, Puri is able to make us laugh through his script, especially when Mahesh and Kajal are fighting / flirting on-screen. It is uncommon these days to see a straight movie devoid of extraneous fluff. Because of this, the first half of the film is almost perfect - the audience is always kept at the edge of their seats, and songs come at a proper time and place. Since the film essentially is a character study of Surya "Bhai" and his way of dealing with the unfairness of the Indian government, the other characters are not given as much of an importance. Kajal is able to look beautiful but a bit artificial, Nasar once again dons the role of a police officer and father of the female lead and the main villain is Prakash Raj who is barely given any characterization. The cast is solid, but do not really make a mark, as Mahesh takes the center stage through most parts of the film.

Where the film falters, is in the second half. The director was able to build tension leading up to the climax, but there were far too many unnecessary songs along the way. Granted, in a film without top comedians needs something to appease the masses, but they still felt superfluous. Also, the censor edits were outrageous, bleeping out far too many key dialogues that come from Mahesh. If the film is already rated 'A' for 'adult', why does it need to be censored so much when it is indicated that the film is for adults? And the blurring out of heroine and item girls' skimpy clothing was not needed either. Telugu audiences are used to seeing even worse when it comes to that, and it is not nearly as bad as some of the ridiculous violence that makes the cut in some Balakrishna films (Simha, I'm looking at you).

The Business Man is a noble attempt when so many familiar movies are flooding the box office. Puri Jagannath has channeled his inner Ram Gopal Varma (he even dedicates the film to him) and was able to do so in a mass-oriented way. It is a more daring movie than Dookudu, which was relatively safe within the confines of what we expect from a South Indian entertainer. I will even say it is in a few aspects better than Pokiri. This film is more of a character study, rather than a straight action film like Pokiri. In this way, I appreciate the different subject matter Puri has decided to take on.

However, whether this film will be able to break the box office records of Mahesh's previous films remains to be seen. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if it does not. It lacks many things the masses may be looking for, and people looking for another all-out entertainer like Dookudu may be disappointed.

With all that being said go watch The Business Man with a fresh mind and you will be pleasantly surprised. It isn't perfect, but it is a bold attempt at a mafia film, different than anything out right now. Performances (mainly Mahesh's), Puri's dialogues, and a few moments that make you say "wow" create a very interesting and (most importantly) entertaining experience.

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