Nageswar Reddy is back with a queer comedy set in a rural backdrop. The landscape is peopled with quirky characters who can take petty rivalries rather seriously, a landscape where a pretty lass falls in love with no less a sensation than Sampoornesh Babu.
'Current Teega' is, among other things, about Manchu Manoj flexing his muscles more than unusually, and waging inflated fights. The rival may be trivial but all hell breaks lose when the hero who doesn't like to compare himself with carnivores/omnivores is beating him to the pulp. All the punchlines that he spouts occasionally, deliberately flippantly, are directed at this insignificant rival. We keep waiting and waiting for that drama between Manoj and Jagapathi Babu, in vain.
Raju (Manoj) is a self-styled president of some 'VIP sangham'. Accompanied by funny friends (Vennela Kishore, Dhanraj, Tagubothu Ramesh), he leads life casually and falls after a school teacher (played by Sunny Leone). Rakul Preet Singh as Jagapathi's daughter is studying Intermediate, Manoj uses her as a "courier girl" to convey his feelings for Sunny. In due course of time, he falls in love with Rakul and this is when Jagapathi is ruffled because the father has his prestige and a body part staked in whom the daughter marries.
The story line is a semi-joke. The director understands the content of the subject and tries to tell the story in an eccentric context. For example, the sidekicks of Jagapathi Babu funnily massage his ego. Manoj shows the ability to laugh at himself. The character of Prithvi Raj, the wedding band singers who sing inappropriate songs, the dirty ways of Dhanraj, an old-world gun personified as a son by Jagapathi, so on and so forth.
However, a genre like this has its inherent limitations. Idiosyncratic characters can make a bevy of scenes but not a film. The director could have changed the context in the last 30 minutes to give us a different feel. The emotional side of Manoj revealed in the scene with his father (played by Tanikella Bharani) is fine, but the Kollywoodised abnormal melancholic number that follows looks lame and a copycat act.
The best part of the film is that it has got some rib-tickling moments, supported more by the witty dialogue rather than performances. While Manoj does it by being his usual self, Jagapathi plays the village's egoistic head with his crazy ways. Both Manoj and Jagapathi don't surprise us in any way, even in the scenes where they are seen together. The chemistry between Manoj and Rakul is sizzling. While Rakul is barely convincing as as a school dress-wearing girl acting innocuous, she comes into her own in the scenes where she secretly admires her boy.
Through dialogues that border on vulgarity or sarcasm, the signature of Nageswar Reddy is apparent. Vruddha sangam, professional topic (referring to his love for Sunny) and so on are entertaining. Scenes like the one where Manoj demands for the Rita recording troupe to be there at the fair are over-board.
Achu's music is adapted to Manoj's style. If the tunes do come across as a rip-off or two, the visualization falls flat. One song is wrongly placed, coming as it does after a frivolous scene.
Manoj looks energetic, however routine he may have been. Rakul is better in this film than in 'Loukyam'. Jagapathi in his 'Legend' avatar does a semi-comedian act with confidence. Sunny Leone is wasted in a role that has her adopt a fake accent and speak lines like "Aada pillalu paddathi ga undali" to a comedic effect. Even the item number with her is dumb.
The cinematography and art work pass muster.
Verdict: With a story line that is wafer-thin and a genre with inherent limitations, 'Current Teega' is not current.
Rating: 3/5
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