A milestone made more memorable

Telugu cinema has always been welcoming of historicals, from time to time, over the past four decades in particular. This industry has seen absolutely captivating performances by the earlier lot of cine actors like the legendary NTR who was a specialist in this genre, apart from his dominant mythological roles on-screen.

Into this scenario, with many raja rani tales being made into films in Tollywood of late, one gets to watch the 100th film of Balakrishna – ‘Gautamiputra Satakarni’. This brings to life the tale of a little-known Telugu emperor of the Satavahana dynasty. Director Krish, who has also written the story and screenplay, firmly affixes the focus on his hero’s hyper abilities to emote, speak and carry an attitude-laden personality with élan.

His gamble has quite obviously paid off as Balayya takes to the role with a natural flair and flamboyance. Thereby he lends an impactful tone to the story which is all about a ruler, who wants to have one, united land of fellow Bharatiyas in which there is no mutual feud and fissure and no scope for any foreigner to enter and stay.

The two-hour plus movie is all about his gigantic efforts in this direction, with a supporting mother (Hema Malini) and an unsure consort (Shriya Saran), who is not convinced about her spouse’s Utopia. The tribute to motherhood thus finds a firm slot, in a way, the pivot around which the film revolves.

Dovetailing war scenes at various locations in vivid backdrops with the light-and-shade of the finely sculptured palace, the cinematographer Gnana Shekar carries the story on his shoulders rather well. The proceedings thus balance the soft and hard, the anxiety of one mother about losing her son and the stoic nature of the other in having hers fight hard battles to protect the home turf.

Reworking the commercial formula to narrate a new fable, Krish does not dilute the story too much into emotional battles or melodrama, but dabbles in the familiar track, by including the palace intrigues and a honey trap kind of a treachery, which almost undoes what the hero is about to accomplish at the end. Kabir Bedi and Milind Gunaji, the other known characters, are seen in adversarial roles and their challenges are obviously, easily overcome by the ferocious Telugu titan.

Playing efficiently to keep the legions of Balakrishna fans happy, Krish deploys a combo of punch dialogues, powerful action and technology to maintain a healthy pace to the film. After a long time, keeping with the ambience, one gets to hear the voices of the legendary SPB and Udit Narayan, as the hero goes about wooing his better half. Of course, the supporters generously applaud as their favourite celebrity touches a personal milestone in his long career.

Film Name : Gautamiputra Satakarni
Cast : Balakrishna, Shriya Saran, Kabir Bedi and Hema Malini
Direction : Krish
Genre : Drama-action
Likes : Balakrishna with a perfect century- kind of a performance
Dislikes : Slow beginning to the second half