Kedi Review

After 'King", Nagarjuna again signed for a film from the same producer and his close friend Sivaprasada Reddy introducing Kiran as director. The film shooting took a little long, as Nagarjuna was preoccupied with his son Naga Chaitanya"s debut as hero. Even after the completion of the shooting and other formalities, the release was delayed further due to various circumstances and finally hit the screen on February 12. There were lots of expectations on the film as the trailers released earlier evoked lots of response. However, the director"s immaturity clearly reflected in the film and Nagarjuna"s outstanding performance failed to help the film to say a hit and turned an above average fare.

Ramesh @ Rummy (Nagarjuna) is fond of cricket. His father (Tanikella Bharani) always beats him. He falls in love with Janaki @ Sweety (Mamata Mohandas) in his childhood itself. But fearing her father, Janaki refuses to elope with him and advises him to earn money first and then ask for her hand. He takes the wrong path in his quest for money. He goes to Goa to escape from the police and encounter Chandra (Ankur) from whom he earns Rs 100 at Guntur.

In Goa, Rummy goes to a casino and starts fleecing money from Chandra's casino. He meets Linda (Nadia) who is searching for her sister Sara (Poula). He helps Linda to find her sister and thrashes Victor (Kelly Dorge), who kidnapped her. Noticing his helping nature, Linda proposes to Rummy, but the latter refuses her love. Once, Rummy comes to know that a millionaire is getting his daughter married and is presenting a valuable necklace worth Rs 50 lakhs. Rummy hatches a plan to steal it and as per the plan he needs a girl to act as his wife.

Rummy"s assistant Arshad (Harshavardhan) introduces Sandhya to Rummy. Though Rummy successfully steals the necklace Sandhya doesn't accept money wants shelter. Chandra calls Rummy and tells him to bring a bag and settles deal for Rs 15 lakh. After successfully stealing the bag, Rummy comes to know from another gangster that it has powerful RDX and double-crosses Chandra as he offers Rs 1 crore. While escaping with that Rs 1 crore along with Sandhya and her son Varun, Chandra"s men attack Rummy and Sandhya decides to keep off from Rummy. At that moment, Rummy comes to know that Sandhya is none other than Janaki, his childhood lover.

PERFORMANCE:
Nagarjuna"s performance is ultimate in this film. He once again showed lots of maturity in his performance. He showed perfect comedy timing and aggressive show in action scenes, while subtle in sentiment scenes. Though he is getting older, his physique is a perfect fit and the cinematographer Sarvesh Murari showed him in a very handsome manner. He shook his legs with utmost precision in songs and once again proved why he is being called 'Greeku Veerudu" in Telugu. Mamata Mohandas is average in the film. She has very less scope to perform and even the glamour quotient is also very poor. She could have a better looks, had she taken some more care. Ankur of 'Slum Dog Millionaire"-fame is good as a villain and casino owner. Harshavardhan had a lengthy role in this film and he utilised the opportunity well. Brahmanandam was wasted in the film and he failed to tickle the funny bone of audiences like his other films with Nagarjuna such as 'Manmadhudu". Anushka sizzled in the title song by making a special appearance. But she failed to grab the adequate attention.

TECHNICAL:
Cinematography by Sarvesh Murari is fabulous as he perfectly captured the landscapes and nature of Goa well with his camera. Nagarjuna looked quite younger with the precautions taken by him. Editing by Saravanan is okay. Music by Sandeep Choutha is average and failed to grab the attention of the audiences. Except a couple of songs, most of the songs are not so catchy, while some of them are too slow. In other words, it is a big let down and proved a draw back for the film. Production values of Kamakshi Kala Movies are adequate. The director"s immaturity was the major minus point for the film. The narration is obsolete and the average audiences could not digest the kind of narration as they were cut in bits and pieces. Moreover, the placement of songs is not appropriate. However, the film is not boring due to good comedy timing by Nagarjuna and the action scenes.

ANALYSIS:
Though the film did not reach the expectations of the audiences in general and Nag"s fans in particular, the running of the film is okay, as there are no boring scenes in the film. The director chose to keep songs and action scenes alternatively to force the audiences to stick to the seats. However, with the upcoming release of Naga Chantanya"s 'Yem Maya Chesavo…", how far this film would shake the Box Office is not yet known. The film can"t be claimed a hit, but remained an above average-farer. By going to the film, one doesn"t feel bad as a waste of money and at the same time the film could not expect repeat audiences.

Cast: Nagarjuna, Mamta Mohandas, Sayaji Shinde, Harshavardhan, Ankur, Nirmal Pandey, Kelly Dorje, Akhilendra Misra, Brahmanandam, Tanikella Bharani, Anushka (special appearance), Mehek, Linda, Poula, Pavala Syamala, Jayavani and others.

Credits: Cinematography – Sarvesh Murari, Editing – Sharavan, Action – Selva, Lyrics – Chinni Charan, Music – Sandeep Choutha, Art – Srikanth Ramisetty, Presents – Annapurna Studios, Producer – D Sivaprasada Reddy, Story, screenplay, dialogues and direction – Kiran

Banner: Kamakshi Kala Movies

Released on: February 12, 2010