IPS – Indian Police Service is an
esteemed All India service and most citizens vie to be a part of it. Since
ages, Tollywood has been mocking IPS. In Pokiri, Puri Jagannath shifted the
National Police Academy from Hyderabad to Dehradun; in Dookudu, Sreenu Vytla
sent five IPS officers to Turkey just to peep through a telescope and do
nothing more than that; and in the recent flick, Baadshah, he crossed an extra
mile! Despite getting 85% in Civil Services prelims and 95% in mains, and faring well in the
interview, a person is denied entry into IPS. And to everyone’s surprise, he
questions UPSC, err, Police Recruitment Board, or whatever, why he’s not
selected. In due course of time, his good deeds surface and an Inspector
General of Police recruits him in IPS and he becomes an Asst. Commissioner of
Police. Thanks to all directors who used IPS to their best. No one else can
show so many digressed facts about this Civil service.
Having said that let’s dive into
the story. The movie opens with a typical fight sequence in Hong Kong showing
the towering machismo of Jr. NTR as Baadshah. He is seen in shackles but breaks
loose to kick and kill the goons. That's Telugu cinema at its best. More than anyone, cameraman K V Guhan
struggled a lot to pull off this sequence with poise. Then in the utmost
predictable way the movie shifts gears to Milan, Italy. Kajal Agarwal is seen
as ‘good samaritan’ Janaki (most traces of her character were borrowed from
that of Prakash Raj in Premaku Velayara). Modatlo Janaki (Kajal Agarwal) Banti
siddhantam / vedantham kottaga anipinchinaa adi vinaga vinaga chaala chettaga
anipinchindi. As an intelligent audience we know that NTR comes to Italy under
some stupid pretext but carries an ulterior motive with him. Then the movie
shifts again to multiple flashbacks that made the narrative haywire. Some
sudden emotions and forced characters made the film hard to stomach.
The writers brigade Kona Venkat and Gopi
Mohan tried to emulate ‘Maatala Mantrikudu’ Trivikram in every scene and in
every line. All the surmises don’t lead to surprises and serve things that are
run-on-the-mill and used to death in multitude of films. The story was
predictable miles before, and even a kid can tell where it was going. In one scene
Vennela Kishore talks about ‘innovation in praises.’ Had the writers took that
seriously and brought about some innovation to the script the outcome would
have been better. And please, Ee Taata peru bhajana aapandi babu. One line from
the film – “Taata peru pettukundi samaadhi meeda raasukodaaniki kaadu,
charithralo raasukodaaniki.” To get this line in place the writers weaved a
story behind the naming of Baadshah.
Sreenu Vytla perfected the art of
cocktail mixology. Baadshah is a cocktail of Dookudu and Martin Scorsese's The Departed with some
seasoning borrowed from Gudumba Shankar, Ready, and loads of Vytla's other films.
The brutal use Christopher Nolan’s Inception will definitely raise our eyebrows. Though it
was entertaining for some time, an overdose of it was irritating. The good /
bad thing about the movie is the people in Hyderabad who are in search of
Baadshah don’t know how he looks like, so he uses this to his advantage and
moves around with them. Many actors – Siddharth, Nagababu, Shafi, Rajeev
Kanakala – spring as surprises but only for one scene or two. Mahesh Babu’s
voice-over stands out as a sore thumb and is grossly wasted.
The technical departments
flourished all through the film. Guhan’s cinematography is classy and
welcoming. In the background score, Thaman tried to recycle his entire inventory.
It shined at times but on the whole failed to create an impact. Except a
couple, the other songs failed to register. Varma’s editing is slick and lot of
efforts went into CGI and color correction.
NTR looks stylish as Baadshah,
and innocent as N T Rama Rao. The credit goes to the stylist Roopa Vytla and the way NTR carried
such a look is mind-blowing. His acting and comedy timing are splendid. The
scene where he made references to Siddharth and Dil Raju induced more comic
flavor into the film. But his character in the later half is unpalatable, and
the Telangana accent pinches you all over. Kajal Agarwal tried to stay dumb and
overact at places, and in the process she reprised many of her previous roles.
M S Narayana as director Revenge Nageswara Rao evokes
chuckles with his RGV and Twitter antics, but occupies less screen time.
Brahmanandam is the saving grace of the film. His portrayal of Padmanabha Simha
is a laugh riot and the line “1981 Bobbili Puli nundi 2010 Simha varaku…” is
AWE. But the director's effort to touch glory by aping Dookudu climax with
comedians turned gory.
Disclaimer: I am not comparing Baadshah with Dookudu, but what can
one do when Sreenu Vytla wants to present it in such a way.
Bottom-line: Shatruvuni kottalante kasunte saripodu, content
vundaali... Baadshah cinema chudaalante ticket vunte saripodu, opikatho paatu
nidhra vacchinaa, neerasam vacchinaa taagadaniki boledantha coffee, appudappudu
navvukodaaniki, chiraakupadadaaniki kaastha gundedhairyam kaavali..!!
My Rating: Expectation – 7/10;
Reality – 4/10
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