Nowadays, being an onscreen cop with grey shades is a fashion. This is besides exuding anything from normal to abnormal arrogance at the drop of a hat. Puri Jagannadh's Daya, the sub-inspector, is a typical Puri-fied hero with a mega ego. With a dangerous ideology, he could be the ideal type of the 'Businessman' Pokiri-cum-'Rowdy Fellow' cop out to terrify the good and embrace the bad with a 'Patas' attitude. But, no, there is more to this good storyline. There is emotion plus action, the latter not as good as the former.
Daya (NTR) is a careerist cop, an orphan with a perverted ideology of his own. He is posted in Vizag ('State marchesaru', he says to Raghu Babu in Hyderabad) at the behest of a Minister (played by JP), who in turn patronises Valther Vasu (Prakash Raj), a habitual offender, land grabber and more. What would have taken more time for the film to seem settling to the Telugu audience happens in a jiffy, given we have seen the likes of Nara Rohith and Kalyan Ram in recent weeks/months.
Doing the bidding of Valther Vasu, Daya gets his cut regularly and his depraved ways have his constable (Posani Krishna Murali in a non-routine role) shocked and ashamed. Meanwhile, the unabashed Daya goes about wooing Shanvi (Kajal Agarwal), a pet cross member with a special liking for animals.
The game-changing moment comes when Shanvi gets misidentified as the lady whom Valther Vasu wants dead. When Vasu's goons attack her, she is shell-shocked and after knowing the truth, a concerned Shanvi urges Daya to use his police power to save the girl Vasu wants to kill. Torn between business interests and sentiment, Daya has to walk the tightrope.
From word go, it is a one-man show by NTR. He comes out of the image trap and accepts a role that demands of him to call himself a scumbag; well, at one point he even shouts to Posani, "Enti ra? Nannu ala cheap ga choostunnav." That is Daya, the SI sans 'daya' for you. There is a reason for his unscrupulousness. It is, no prizes for guessing, his orphanhood. Reasonably or otherwise, it was the reason why the businessman (2012) became a businessman.
While the first half packs in some lame stuff, the second half is substantial enough to root for 'Temper'. NTR is made to do a bit of comedy (in one scene, he talks about 'manavathvam' is 'kukka thathvam'); Sapthagiri and Ali as petty thieves are seen in a thanklessly puerile comedy scene. Vennela Kishore gets to play a comical flutist, who is seen in a scene where double entendre is in your face. This is yet another Puri film very low on the comedy quotient. Some situational comedy here and there is forgettable.
It is not action or even the songs (as much as you like NTR's terrific dance moves) that are the saving grace. It's the emotional quotient that is not over-board (except when Daya says to Vasu, "Evadu ra anadha. Naku nanna unnadu, amma undhi, chelli undhi.." in a contrived pre-climax scene). After Rakhi, this one has NTR do some heavy stuff with astonishing ease.
It goes without saying that but for Puri, NTR would not have been able to deliver a stylish and an intensely sentimental act of such degree. Puri takes care of NTR too well, so much so he seems to treat the other aspects with a step-motherly attitude. The pre-climax and climax portions are the ones he thought would prove crucial, apart from at least four good scenes with Posani. And these indeed are the film's best parts.
What might go unnoticed is the brilliant irreverent scene involving NTR, Prakash Raj and JP soon after the interval. You have NTR talk like the typical village woman caught in a bind and trying to escape by talking gibberish.
Some bit of Puri-filled scenes like the one where Daya asks for liquor to be sent to the beach, angering an already rattled Vasu, could have been avoided. The 'Devudaa' number needed a better conceptualization.
The songs pass muster and don't have in them to become runaway hits. But for NTR's dance moves, Anup Rubens' music is no saving grace. Mani Sharma's BG score is just OK.
Sam K Naidu's cinematography is good.
This one is NTR's splendid ride. He excels in his dialogue delivery and demeanour, though the costumes are not up to the mark. Kajal Agarwal is vivacious but doesn't get more than a glam-doll role. Prakash Raj is routine, with no memorable dialogues given him by Puri. Posani scores over other character artists; imagine him without those stock expressions and typical body language, instead doing some sentiment.
Verdict: All in all, this one has emotion plus action, the former is the raison d' etre. Watch out for NTR. He is different and genuinely different here.
Rating: 3.25/5
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