Kidnap Review

Bala, who had earlier directed 'Sivaputrudu', had produced 'Mayavi' in Tamil with his protege Singapuli wielding the megaphone. The film proved a big hit and it was dubbed into Telugu by Kandepi Satyanarayana Rao and SV Rao on the banner of Sri Balaji Movies.

The film is basically an entertainer. However, one could find how the film stars are being cheated by some people was perfectly screened by Singapuli. It seems the Telugu producers had reshowed a couple scenes to suit the nativity.

Balaiah (Suriya) is a tourist guide and also a petty thief. Satyaraj (Satyan) is his best friend. On the advice of Satyaraj, Balaiah decides to loot a big house so that they need not worry about food for some time. Though he is a thief, Balaiah is good at heart. Balaiah enters a house to loot for the first time.

Accidentally, it happens to be house of popular heroine Jyothika. Being a fan of that heroine, Balaiah returns the money, but get caught by the police.

Later, when Balaiah was accompanying the tourists, Jyothika tells those tourists that he was a thief. So that he loses his income. In order to teach her a lesson, he frightens her by appearing in various places.

To get rid of him Jyothika's manager Krishnamurthy lodges a complaint with police claiming that Balaiah attempted rape on Jyothika. This irks Balaiah, who after his return from three month jail term, kidnaps Jyothika and keeps her in the bungalow of a police officer. But he makes it clear to her that he is not going to harm her but keep her in house arrest for seven days.

During the period, Jyothika realises how good Balaiah is. They release Jyothika and she again gets kidnapped by her manager and the police officer demanding Rs 50 lakh for her release. The police officer tries to keep her in the same place where Balaiah and Satyaraj kept her for seven days. The duo gets shocked at this and bashes the goons.

Finally, Jyothika calls the police commissioner and returns home. The film ends on a happy note.

The film has five songs and good fights. However, two of the songs were the lift of old Telugu tunes like - 'Mass to Pettunkute Madathadi Poddi' and 'Gongura Thota Kada Kaapu Kaasa.'.

As the original flick is in Tamil, those tunes might be novel to them, but when it comes to Telugu the audiences could easily recognize them.

Music by Devi Sri Prasad is adequate. Lyrics by Bhuvanachandra, Sahiti and Vanamali are okay. Director Singapuli tried his best to mould the film as an admixture of comedy, romance, fantasy, thriller and also a satire on a film star's life.

Suriya played the role with ease, and Jyothika, though performed well. Scenes like Suriya's first break-in into Jyothika's house were shot well. His reaction, when he realizes as to whose house he is in are right on the mark and his imitation of her dance steps is hilarious. Though some scenes were unrealistic, they could be ignored as such instances were common in films.

Cast: Suriya, Jyothika, Satyan, Roja (guest appearance)

Credits: Music - Devisri Prasad, Presents - SV Rao, Producers - Kandepi Satyanarayana and SV Rao, Story, screenplay and direction - Singapuli

Banner: Sri Balaji Movies