Pandaga Chesko Review

It is formulas galore in Tollywood of late.  Ram, an under-rated actor failed to strike gold with his character of a gay person in ‘Masala’ and here he plays a conventional one to woo the audience.  The effort is not last; even though the acting is not high on novelty, the timing works.

Ram plays an NRI businessman who is calculated and shrewd.  It is contract time in the form of marriage.  So, he enters into an alliance with Sonal Chauhan, herself a rich lady.  But when he is in India as part of a sentimental mission, the Cupid strikes as he meets Rakul Preet Singh, who plays Divya.

The kind of characters make predicting the story quite easy.  Right from Bhupathi Reddy (Sampath Raj) and Sai Reddy (Sai Kumar), the feuds are familiar.  What is more familiar is the desire to connect and reunite with family.  The familiar terrain is sought to be traversed with a dose of Brahmi humour, not to mention Ram’s own comic timing, by Gopichand Malineni.

As Karthik, Ram is at his natural best.  He strikes the right chemistry with the glam dolls, Sonal and Rakul, more with the latter than the former.  The story sequence and narration betray Gopichand's talent.

Now back to the important charge that the film is made to a template.  It is expected of such a film to fall back on Brahmanandam, the comedy of confusion and all.  Pandaga Chesko does everything with gay abandon.

It would be too tempting to draw comparisons with this or that film.

Gopichand having made two big-ticket films 'Bodyguard' and 'Balupu' does this film like a breeze.  On the weight of good production values, he portrays his story with a trace of richness.  But beyond the gloss, there is no novelty.  Ram, for example, looks uber-cool and carries the film on his shoulders.  Sonal and Rakul come with a shade each of their own.

Vennela Kishore and Shakalaka Shankar do a good job.  Brahmi as 'Weekend' Venkat Rao is at his typical best.

Thaman's music is peppy at one or two place and that's all.  The BGM doesn't quite live up to expectations.  The cinematography and other technical departments pass muster.

In a film where the storyline is not as important as the glamour of actors, the dialogues, again, only pass muster.  It is Gopichand's sense of humour that does the magic, but that is only-few-and-far-between like.

The story being a dated cheque apart, the emotions are not very well played up.  It is not like they are milk-and-water, but that they could have been better portrayed.

Being an alleged family entertainer, the film may have a life of its own at the Box Office this summer.

Editing by Gautham Raj, Cinematography by Sameer Reddy help the film boast of good technical team.  However, what mattered the most was story, but here Veligonda Srinivas fumbles.

Verdict: A formula festival, so to speak.  Predictability apart, what does the film in is the lack of novelty.

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