Homam - Review

Chakravarthy, who made his debut along with Ramgopal Varma in Siva earned good recognition among the audiences. He played different roles as a small time artist, hero and villain on the screen and suddenly disappeared from the Telugu film industry to work as an associate with his mentor Ramgopal Varma. He tried his hand in direction for a couple of films in Bollywood too. After watching the success of Pokiri where the hero played undercover cop, he prepared an excellent subject with action backdrop and clash between mafia and the police on similar lines. He chose Jagapatibabu as his hero and he himself too played a role in this movie. Not only on the screen, but off the screen also, he has proven his mettle with Homam.

Mallikarjun @ Malli (Jagapatibabu) is a trusted lieutenant of a mafia don Daddy (Mahesh Manjrekar). DIG Viswanath (Pradeep Rawat) and his team including commissioner (Ahuti Prasad), special officer (Brahmaji), commissioner Chandu (JD Chakravarthy) and ACP (Raja Ravindra) have tried to catch Daddy and his gang, but could not succeed in their attempts. Every time, Daddy used to escape from the police. In fact, Malli is none other than an undercover cop, who mingled with Daddy's mafia gang and used to pass messages to the DIG. At the same time, Chandu used to help Daddy by leaking the information about the police movements. The hide and seek game continues for some time. In this backdrop, Malli falls in love with a doctor called Anjali (Mamata Mohandas). Once, Viswanath catches Daddy, but could not frame charges against him due to lack of evidence. But, both Viswanath and Daddy reveal that each of their men are with the other team. Malli's mother (Dubbing Janaki) suffers from ill-health and gets admitted in a hospital. The doctors tell Malli that he should keep his mother happy, otherwise she may not live longer. So Malli reveals that he is not really a goon but a police officer, but she does not believe it. In order to convince her, Malli wants to bring Viswanath to her but in a shoot out with the mafia gang, Viswanath gets killed. After a couple of events, Chandu realises that Daddy is trying to play games with him and eliminates him. Chandu who is in search of the 'black sheep' in Daddy's gang comes to know that Malli is the undercover cop and after Malli reveals the password, Chandu deletes his identity. Now it is Malli's turn to prove that he is a cop and hence plays a trick. All the conversations Chandu has with Daddy are taped by the latter and Malli blackmails Chandu and invites him for an exchange of his identity with the tapes. Malli decides to complete the mission named 'Operation Homam' as he is sure that Chandu will not give his identity and takes the help of Anjali to send cops to their meeting place. Chandu voluntarily reveals all his mistakes and the police who reach the place with the special officer kill him in an encounter. The film ends on a happy note with Malli's mother presenting him the Best Cop award.

PLUS: After a long gap, Jagapatibabu plays hero in a complete action film with a well-toned body.. He shows a range of emotions in the film with ease and proves that he is the right choice for the hero. He looks quite rugged as an undercover cop and his body language is extraordinary all through the film. Mamata Mohandas fills the glamour slot and is okay as a heroine. JD Chakravarthy, who plays a crooked cop, is also okay in his role. He too played his role with ease. Bollywood villain Mahesh Manjrekar who made his debut with his fresh villainy helps to elevate the film to certain extent. Pradeep Rawat, who is known as a villain in Telugu films plays a sincere police officer and has done a positive role in the flick. Generally the audiences expect Mukhesh Rushi or Sayaji Shinde in such roles. Brahmaji, Raja Ravindra have also done justice to their roles. The other major plus point in the film is the different style of treatment. Chakravarthy has chosen the Hollywood type of taking in the film with less action scenes but with good suspense and tense atmosphere in the film. Camera work by Bharani K Dharan is good to watch, while editing by Bhanoday needs a little more sharpness.

MINUS: Though the entire film moves with a good tempo, the abrupt killing of the villain should have been avoided and there should have been a little more drama. The love and romantic episodes between the hero and heroine should have been extended a little further to attract the youth. The major minus in the film is the poor comedy show. MS Narayana's comedy bores the audiences instead of providing entertainment. The romance between Chakravarthy and Madhurima are absurd and no way related to the story. Likewise, running a song with both the heroes simultaneously appears cinematic. The characters of Brahmaji and Raja Ravindra are also not properly established in the film.

REMARKS: The Telugu audiences, hitherto known for certain kind of films with action backdrop, have tasted a new kind of movie on the screen. The film has a different kind of taking and is brought out in Hollywood style. A few lapses like the abrupt end of Prabhakar's character, the role of Tarjan and poor climax have made the film a little boring. The city audiences who are in the habit of watching Hollywood films would like the film. However, the film is not sure to attract the mass audiences and at the same time it cannot be written off simply as it may become a hit with mouth publicity.

Cast: Jagapatibabu, Chakravarthy, Mamata Mohandas, Madhurima, Mahesh Manjrekar, Pradeep Rawat, Brahmaji, Raja Ravindra, Ahuti Prasad, MS Narayana, Dubbing Janaki and others

Credits: Camera – Bharani K Dharan, Editing – Bhanoday, Lyrics – Suddala Ashok Teja, Music – Nithin Raikwar, Art – Satya, Presents – Shreya Productions, Producer – Kirankumar Koneru, Screenplay and direction are by JD Chakravarthy.

Banner: Stotram Pictures

Released on: August 28, 2008