Good old Chiru is back

What if the dance steps have slowed down (not the grace though), moves are minimalistic and screen presence, just about nostalgia-inducing for the diehard fan? Having waited patiently for a long time, Chiranjeevi supporters have something to cheer about as the ‘Boss is Back’ in his familiar entertainer role.

10 years ago, the megastar took a break from Telugu cinema with his 2007 dud ‘Shankardada Zindabad,’ a remake of the Hindi hit ‘Lage Raho Munnabhai’. His return too, ‘Khaidi No 150,’ is a remake -- of 2014 Tamil monster hit ‘Kaththi’ starring Vijay and Samantha.

If this is the first de-risking step the family banner takes, there is more to follow as the film is sustained by engaging marquee names apart from director V V Vinayak, like the cinematographer Rathnavelu, stuntmen Ram Laxman, music director Devi Sri Prasad and the choreographers boasting of big names like Lawrence and Sekhar.

Returning after a stint in politics at the state and national level, Chiranjeevi’s instinct for picking up a story which has strands of realism, action, comedy and scope for his trademark swagger and punch dialogues has turned out to be a right decision, by and large.

Despite a wavy beginning (the problem continuing from the original), the flick settles into a nice rhythm soon enough, as the audience’s comfort level with their erstwhile legend gets into a groove. Interspersing sequences laced with comedy, action and the famed Chiru steps during the duet scenes, the director stays faithful to the original, a tale of people’s successful protest against greedy corporate entities, by and large.

Aware that he is making a comeback after a long gap, Chiranjeevi stays focused on his strengths, with a naughty, disarming technique of performance which he retains throughout. Other than Tarun Arora, the antagonist, who is wooden and not a match to the icon, experienced names like Brahmanandam, Ali etc give terrific back up to Chiru throughout.

Kajal Aggarwal, other than creating a record of having paired with both the son and the father on-screen, does not jell all that well, with the chemistry not too visible anywhere in the film. Music by Devi with a few songs already a rage, is still not there at the top as the Tamil original used the background score (by Anirudh) effectively to highlight the convict character very convincingly.

The film, alternately skids and speeds up its pace throughout is saved by the climax block which lends the message orientation a great semblance of watchability. For the fans, however, the festival season has begun well for sure.

Film Name : Khaidi No 150

Cast : Chiranjeevi, Kajal Aggarwal, Tarun Arora, Brahmanandam and Ali
Direction : VV Vinayak
Genre : Drama-action
Likes : Chiru, of course!
Dislikes : Lack of chemistry between the lead pair

By K Naresh Kumar