As the film is coming to a finish, Manchu Manoj narrates a story to Prakash Raj, a top cop. In the hands of a more intelligent maker of thriller films, such kind of a narration would have been used more often throughout. To be fair to Dasaradh, he had a good plot and story in his hands. What he didn't have is a cinematic idiom capable of creating an emotional effect laced with the thriller elements. Instead, Dasaradh goes for Brahmanandam to keep the audience engaged for some time in the second half.
The film is narrated in a non-linear fashion. Ten minutes into the film, the heroine's throat is slit and the hero is arrested on suspicion. She being an MP's daughter, the case becomes a high-profile one. Cut to flashback, Shourya (Manoj) befriends Nethra (Regina Cassandra) on her visit to her friend's wedding in a village. Believing him to be without an agenda, Nethra trusts him totally. But Shourya has other plans and it's to help Nethra's friend elope with her boy friend. After knowing the truth about Shourya's good intentions, Nethra falls in love with him. But her politician-father (Nagineedu) doesn't like it as Shourya belongs to a different caste and his daughter marrying him might upset his political ambitions. Nagineedu asks his daughter to stay away from Shourya until the Shiv Ratri day, following which he promises to arrange for their marriage. Shourya suspects Nagineedu's intentions and asks Nethra not to agree to her father's plan. However, she agrees to play according to her father's plans. What follows is a roller-coaster ride involving Shourya, Nethra, her father, and Prakash Raj, the cop investigating the murder of Nethra.
Dasaradh has come a cropper in perking up narration to suit the standards of today's audience. He should have avoided extraneous comedy scenes and lazy songs. While the twists and turns are engaging, sub-par technical values undo the gifts.
Prabhas Sreenu's comedy is hilarious here and there. Brahmanandam as the Sports Minister is failed by an illogical screenplay that is at the level of a juvenile skit.
The interval bang ends on a tense note. The court scenes and the investigation should have been slick.
It would have helped the film a great deal if the visuals and the players looked stylized. They look rather old-fashioned. The film’s backdrop should have been urbane. At a time when visual richness is more important than substance for a good chunk of audience, it would have mattered a lot.
K Vedaa's music is good when seen separately from the film. However, as part of a romantic-thriller, it falls flat. The BGM shines here and there, though. As for Malhar Bhatt Joshi’s cinematography, it's a turn off.
Manoj tries his hand at an unconventional role here. His proclivity towards the 'hatke' is intact. Dasaradh's creativity needed to be somewhat zany to do justice to an actor like Manoj. All in all, Manoj does his job well.
Regina Cassandra looks good and is convincing. While Nagineedu, Subbu Raj, Sayaji Shinde, Brahmanandam, Narsing Yadav, Nalla Venu and others are seen in forgettable roles, Prakash Raj makes his presence felt. As a smart cop, he is bang on.
Verdict: A thriller with good potential rendered blunt by a maker whose creativity is rooted too much in Telugu nativity.
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