Jadoogadu Review
When your male lead arrives in the city with unrealistic dreams and ends up being duped by a paper advertisement, you least expect the film to veer towards action thriller way. And 'Jadoogadu' delivers just that surprise. Naga Shourya who arrives with an adventurist-next-door attitude is in reality full of cunning. When he bumps into Zakir Hussain (of 'Singham Returns' fame), his life takes an adventurous turn in the negative sense. From now on, the comedy involving Srinivas Reddy, Sathya and Prithvi Raj takes a backseat to give way to adventurism involving a hero who thinks all future belongs to him.
Srisailam (Zakir Hussain) is a dreaded gangster with a huge fortune and an image for ruthlessness. Krishna (Naga Shourya) sweeps him off his feet with his gutsy temperament. Krishna joins the gang. Guntur Sreenu (Ajay), a senior member of the gang, grows jealous of Krishna. Soon, Krishna finds himself a victim of a game plan hatched by Srisailam, Guntur Sreenu and Inspector Selva (Ravi Kale). Watch out as the wannabe crorepathi struggles to wriggle free of a trap.
The writer comes up with a good storyline but the director doesn't always do justice to the narration. The romantic track involving Sonarika Bhadoria and Naga Shourya impresses and the dialogue passes muster. To add pep to proceedings, the idea of kisses is brought in. The chemistry is alright but Sagar Mahathi's music could have been better.
The screenplay comes with a topping machinations and counter-machinations. These are narrated reasonably well and innovations that are apparently insignificant make the proceedings a treat to watch. The scenes involving Asish Vidhyarthi (the dubbing done by someone else is a disappointment) and Ravi Kale are a case in point. Kota Srinivas Rao and Zakir Hussain are the other two actors who entertain when they are seen in a scene together.
The idea of 'sleep mode' is utilised well to enrich the screenplay. It seems to be going well until the second half packs more-than-usual romance and avoidable vulgarity involving Sapthagiri.
The retrospective presented by Krishna in the climax is the best part of the film. Well-written and well-executed, the action scene is loud with bullet shots.
For Naga Shourya, the role is desgined to evoke mass appeal, but it surely has limitations. He is not the kind of actor of whom the front-benchers will be enamoured of when he delivers punchlines. Overall, he does justice to his role that demands of him to portray sympathetic expressions.
After him, the film mainly relies on the soft villainism of Zakir Hussain. Ajay's role is to be watched out for.
Sonarika has oomph and she passes muster.
The technical aspects add pep to proceedings although the same can't be said of the songs. The cinematography and BGM smack of fair technical values.
Verdict: Naga Shourya arrives in a new avatar to appeal to the mass audience. If the storyline is impressive, the narration has its highs and lows.
- Telugu lo chadavandi