Dookudu

Shankar Narayana (Prakash Raj) is a local leader who always helps the poor. When a truck collides with the car his brother and he are in, Shankar goes into a coma. But the rest of the world thinks he is killed in that accident, except his family. His son, Ajay (Mahesh Babu), is a cop in Mumbai who fights against the mafia. When he heads to Turkey to nab a mafia leader, he meets Prashanthi (Samantha), daughter of Ajay’s senior police officer and soon falls in love with her. When he returns to India, he finds out that his father’s accident was planned by a mafia leader Naik (Sonu Sood). Ajay wants to take revenge on Raju Naik. Meanwhile, Shankar Narayan is out of coma, but doctors warn that he will go back to that state if he ever hears any shocking news. So, Ajay has to keep him happy, even as he plots to kill the mafia don. “Dookudu” is a typical Srinu Vytla film with a generous sprinkling of comedy. His narrative manages to keep the audience engaged until the end of the movie. The dialogues with that extra ‘punch’ suit Mahesh perfectly. Kudos to Kona Venkat who penned the dialogues. Mahesh carries the film all the way with his performance. Whether he’s playing the tough cop or emoting as the sensitive son — the actor shines in ever scene. His dialogue delivery and mannerisms continue to impress — a few dialogues that he delivers in the Telangana accent is commendable and so are his comic scenes. The scene where Mahesh Babu talks about Samantha, without knowing that she is hearing, is to watch out for. Samantha looks beautiful and has done a great job, though her role isn’t too lengthy. Prakash Raj is brilliant as usual. The scenes with both Prakash Raj and Mahesh Babu are very emotional. Like in his earlier films, Srinu Vytla brings in Brahmanandam for the laughs. Along with MS Narayana, the comedian manages to do just that. Sonu Sood, who plays a baddie again, plays his part effortlessly. Subbaraju and Sayaji Shinde are good in their roles. The music manages to impress and so does KV Guhan’s cinematography — the movie looks very stylish. This movie comes as a blessing for not just Mahesh Babu, but also for Tollywood, which is badly in need of a hit, after the recent spate of box office debacles. Srinu Vytla and Mahesh Babu have come out with a winner in “Dookudu”.

Shankar Narayana (Prakash Raj) an honest man with ideals who does a lot for the poor. His good deeds find enemies (Kota, Supreeth, Sayaji). Shankar’s son Ajay (Mahesh Babu) grows up to be an honest and tough cop. While the whole world thinks Shankar Narayana is dead, he is actually recovering in a hospital. Meanwhile, unaware of all this flashback Ajay sets on a mission to hunt Nayak (Sonu Sood), a dreaded mafia don. In this process, he comes across Prashanti (Samantha) and falls in love with her. Meanwhile, Shankar Narayana recovers but he is not supposed to go through any sort of stress. For this, Ajay starts doing all sorts of things to keep him happy. The story takes a turn when Ajay discovers about the attack on his father and decides to take revenge. How does he do that? Whether he is successful or not forms the rest of the story. Mahesh Babu gives a powerhouse performance. His versatility in acting and emoting of various expressions is impressive. As usual, he rocks with his style and handsome looks. Samantha looks sweet. She manages to do justice in songs and the light romance track. However, she must reduce her dose of makeup and start focusing on adding few extra pounds, that will make her double sexy. Prakash Raj was matured as usual. Though he doesn’t have intense scenes in it, he maintains a contained act and does his bit as required. Sonu Sood looks stylish as a villain but his characterization is not that powerful. This time, he was not able to create the required impact. Nasser was natural, Brahmanandam was hilarious, M S Narayana was fantastic, Vennela Kishore brought few extra smiles and made his presence felt, Sonia was alright, Subbaraju made his presence felt, Kota was effective, Sayaji Shinde was standard, Aditya Menon was apt, Tanikella Bharani was elegant, Supreeth was okay. Special mention must be made of Parvathi Melton. Her item song and her oozing sex appeal is a visual delight. The others did their bit as required and added value. The two names, Mahesh Babu and Srinu Vaitla, are enough to set high expectations for the film. But the best way to enjoy this film is to go with an open mind. As such, this is a typical Srinu Vaitla film and his formula and pattern is the same from start to finish. Subba Raju’s character resembles Jaya Prakash Reddy in ‘Dhee’. Brahmanandam’s character resembles what he portrayed in ‘Ready’. Only difference is, the commercial elements are high and for a change he has shown villains as villains and not converted them to good beings. As usual, Vaitla relied on his strengths ie comedy and dialogues. During the first half, things are quite erratic and it is hard to connect. Many were looking at their watches for the interval bang. During the interval many gave thumbs down reactions and somewhat negative vibes. The much hyped Mahesh Babu’s MLA get up is wasted in the film. The purpose of raising curtain for a reality show by Mahesh Babu is not at all convincing but boring. Taking the bigger risk of reality show to keep father happy is like a cock and bull story. The entertainment graph falls down suddenly due to that. Audience gets disconnected to the film at that moment for about 20 minutes. Although the purpose of that reality show is not convincing, the pattern in which it goes with other artistes brought the humor. But second half covered up the entire thing and no one looks at the watch anymore. There are few points which are worth mentioning here: When Dharmavarapu faxes a celebrity photo to the villains. All are shocked. You must watch the film to enjoy that. The scene between Sonu Sood and Prakash Raj. It is a straight lift from ‘Sarkar’ scene between Amitabh Bachchan and Zakir Hussain, but a weak imitation. Last twenty minutes comedy and the dialogues of Brahmi and M S Narayana Overall, the film has the right ingredients to appeal the family audience and though most of it is expected, it is the pace and ability with which the audience is engaged and the entertainment value they get.