Heady mix of comedy and action

‘Supreme Star’ Sai Dharam Tej is a man in a hurry for sure. He has director Anil Ravipudi for company who too has his own list of favourite twists and techniques, even if it means going back and forth from his earlier hit ‘Pataas’ released over a year ago.

With his heroine, a borderline-plump Raashi Khanna bringing up the sensuous part, Ravipudi lets loose his weapons one after the other in this film, a concoction of action, sentiment and slapstick comedy.

The director begins with the hero’s entry item song with erstwhile heroine Shruti Sodhi, and then goes along to his comic team of Prudhviraj, Srinivas Reddy and Prabhas Sreenu, newly including Posani Krishna Murali who manages to entertain in parts.

Then comes the must-include remix hit number from a film of the biggest star in the family Chiranjeevi to take care of the fans end to end. With the modern trend in Telugu cinema portraying greedy businessmen as villains who seem to be eyeing anything and everything for lining their pockets, this ‘Supreme’ film too starts on a confrontationist note between the do-gooders and the evil types.

The object of attention is the vast tracts of fertile land on which villages depend upon, guided and administered by a local bigwig (Sai Kumar). The ownership tussle about it and who gets to own/retain it forms the crux of the film.

Kabir Duhan Singh, the bad guy thus is locked in a race with the people-oriented opponents and this is the scenario into which the entire lot teams up against him. There is a precocious, Anglo-Indian kid too in the rival group who has the trump card with him and warrants his presence throughout the film.

Managing the screen space of all these characters and knitting together a strictly-stay-within-the-formula kind of a narrative, Ravipudi manages to weave together a watchable film. What saves the film from being run-of-the-mill are the gags of his comic actors, which raise chuckles on and off throughout.

The little kid who manages an emotional interlock between the main characters is another USP which engages audience attention, having been given a sizeable screen presence.

Both the villains, Singh and Ravi Kishan are reduced to caricatures as per their designated role plays by the end, with the latter managing to showcase a few of his comic timing abilities by then. Though the title may sound extreme, no efforts are spared to make the film look supreme, but only just.