Same old predictable crime drama

Bellamkonda Sai Srinivas, the 25-year old strapping lad, is a keen performer and an energetic onscreen star. With his strong background in the film industry, he has had the best heroines and the notable talents of the local celluloid world working along in the five releases that he has had since 2014. Success at the box office is still an elusive thing for this endeavouring matinee idol even as his latest one coincides with the Assembly elections in Telangana.

‘Kavacham’ has Srinivas paired with Kajal Aggarwal, a sort of evergreen star in the southern film industry who has been effortlessly switching slots with both the seniors and the upcoming heroes of Telugu cinema. Director Srinivas Mamilla picks an action genre venture for his young hero, portraying him as a cop who can do no wrong. Of course, he has his mother’s advice to bring repute to the uniform he wears, given that he has a police man father whom he has to look up to! After a very shaky start to the film, which has a double flashback for both the hero and the heroine (yes, there are two leading ladies, the other being Mehreen Pirzada) the narrative gains a slight tinge of watchability when a kidnap drama the hero plans to pay the exorbitant operation charges for his mother, twists itself viciously on its head. 

The post-interval phase is obviously focused on unraveling the behind-the-scene masterminds who want to fix the honest cop and defame him in the eyes of the people whom he has set to protect. Neil Nitin Mukesh makes a return to Telugu along with Mukesh Rishi who is content playing a good man leaving all the scheming to the younger north Indian import. A little clarity and a better paced out story telling technique could have salvaged the film to an average entertainer at least. Instead, the director does his best to make the proceedings exhausting and muddle-headed by introducing too many subplots. 

Harshavardhan Rane is wasted in a minor role and so is Pirzada, whose chemistry with the hero during the song sequence is much better than that of the main heroine, who carries it off but does not add the zing which is usually expected. For all the efforts that Srinivas puts in his creative team seems to have ensured that it goes down the drain sailing on a clichéd plot and absolutely uninspiring screenplay.