Movie Review – Naayak (Telugu) – Celebration of commercial cinema!!

The magnificent number SEVEN has taken the world by storm since time immemorial.

Seven wonders, Seven notes (sapta swaras), Seven deadly sins, Seven seas, Seven colors and many more. This magical number spread its wings to the tinsel town and they are churning stories with the help of seven people – directors and writers. So, are there just seven stories in the industry that are rehashed again and again to get a hotchpotch yet breakthrough product? Some stories are born out of personal experiences, or inspiration from plays, movies, books and myriad sources. Such stories exude a lot of life. But most of the stories in recent time are akin to a mosaic with tiles assimilated from various sources. Be it Bollywood, Kollywood or Tollywood, everyone is treading the same path. All said and done, it’s not an easy job to present an old wine in a new bottle. This stage is set to fathom the depths of Naayak, a film by V V Vinayak, and get a taste of its high fliers and low liers.

Naayak is a celebration of commercial cinema. It’s a sugar-coated capsule where the sugar outsmarts and overshadows its core. As every other film of Vinayak, this one starts with a bang and introduces the hero. Then it sails through different waves of comedy, songs, fights and an element of suspense. Though the film gives a feeling of déjà vu, writer Akula Shiva chalked out a deft narration to engage the viewer. It’s the interval block that opens the bag of surprises and tells you where the movie is going. This film has many Vinayak regulars: two heroines, powerful villains, songs, fights, and loads of rib-tickling comedy. With this film the director crossed another milestone proving that he’s the best when it comes to making a film in action-comedy genre.

Ram Charan till now tried a lot to emulate his father, Megastar Chiranjeevi, and in this film he completely got into his shoes. He’s a new breed of heroes who played the magnanimous role of a messiah of masses to perfection. He ably juggles between the image of a mass hero and a lover boy. The audience is confused as what role Cherry is good at essaying – a thud thud, dishum dishum one or a cute looking guy next door or both rolled into one. In the film, Charan plays a dual role of a software engineer and a leader who lives for the society. He did that before in Magadheera, but there, one character stops its journey and the other takes off. In Naayak both the characters travel together. Although there are no sweeping variations in both the characters, it’s pleasure to watch them on screen.

The comedy department outshines others in the film. With the likes of Jayaprakash Reddy, Brahmanandam, M S Narayana, Posani Krishna Murali at the helm of affairs the film is no less than a laugh riot. The one who’s taken all the brownie points is Jayaprakash. His different body language and variety dialogue evoked many chuckles from the audience. As always, the actresses – Kajal Agarwal and Amala Paul - have very less to deliver. They are used as mere caricatures to paint some glamour on the film’s canvas. Hope Vinayak comes out of this shell and gives the female leads some meaty roles. Cinematography of Chota K Naidu is striking and some of his uncanny angles elevated the scenes and emotional quotient. Editing by Gautham Raju falters at places but he’s successful in creating a decent ensemble.

How do you feel when someone cuts the wings of the lovely bird you have preserved for decades? Without a second thought you would speedily cut the wings of that person who’s committed such a heinous crime. After listening / watching the song Subhaleka Raasukunna, everyone will run after composer S S Thaman’s life. He failed miserably in recreating the magical aura of that song. If he can’t do proper justice to an evergreen melody it’s better to stay out of it. In a movie that’s replete with so many shades and scenarios, Thaman failed to impress with his BGMs. It’s high time he wakes up and smells the coffee and learns lessons from his counterparts in Telugu cinema.

It’s hard to separate bloopers and Telugu films, and this film also has plenty of them. Cineplanet multiplex (Kompally, Hyderabad) and Nehru outer ring road in Kolkata; West Bengal DGP getting transferred to AP; illogical logic in court; Bizzare climax; among others register quickly. It would be better if Vinayak tries to walk against the grain in his next film and also pays some attention on the production design. Hope he avoids beating the audience to boredom with over exposure to CGI in the place of real exotic locations. The makers in their promotions said the songs were extensively shot in Iceland and Slovenia, but that's doubtful.

Albeit Naayak is a run-on-the-mill stuff, it has its dose of heart-touching moments - it brings to light some facets of social-awakening by plugging in issues of social concern such as atroctites to poor children, flesh trade mafia etc., into the narrative. The movie can pride itself for this philanthrophic gesture and for unleashing an untold dimension of society that's otherwise neglected by many Tolly fim-makers.

Bottom-Line: The review started with the number seven and its connection to Naayak. Now, let’s pull the curtains reiterating that V V Vinayak made this film from the contributions of seven directors including him.

1) Shankar – Sivaji – The Boss, Oke Okkadu.

2) S S Rajamouli – Simhadri.

3) Suresh Krishna – Baasha.

4) Sreenu Vaitla – Dhee, Ready.

5) Harish Shankar – Mirapakay.

6) Danny Boyle – Slumdog Millionaire.

7) V V Vinayak – Lakshmi, Krishna, Adhurs, Tagore.

Final Cut - Forget the logic and enjoy this complete paisa vasool entertainer.

My Rating: Expectation – 7/10; Reality – 5/10