Appatilo Okadundevadu Telugu Movie Review

This is as authentic as a middle school debate on international finance. Amateur to begin with and over ambitious as it travels. It moves laboriously and tires you incessantly through its two-hour narration. The entire film simply fails to garner direction or conviction. Perhaps the primodial short coming with the film is its lack of focus and an over ambitious nay a gluteness drive to bite more than can chew. A childish enthusiasm to deal with multiple evils backed by lack of what can even remotely be seen as style leads to a consistent and persistently boring narrative. Consequently, the film falls flat on the face.
The story also jerks constantly between narration and happening. It thereby robs the viewer of even linear peace. We start with Railway Raju (Sri Vishnu) a guy from middle class family who dreams of making it big by using the 22 yards. His local coach (Ravi Kanda) has great faith in his skill sets. A Telugu film hero by definition cannot be a loner and so he has for company owner of the local video parlour Vittal Seth (Brahmaji) and the motor mechanic Solomon (Prabhas Sreenu). In fact, Solomon is the first of the very many narrators talking to Rhea. Railway Raju is also in love with Nitya (Tanya Hope). The love story obviously does not find the approval of her foster parents.
There is police officer Imtiaz (Nara Rohit) who is not just trigger happy khaki clad but is near vengeful of Naxalites and like many others sees the problem as law and order problem. Though Railway Raju is a laid back, subdued, middle class aspiring cricketer, things go awry when he kills local gunda Bhagwandas (GV). The nosy inspector finds a hidden skeleton in the cricketer’s cupboard in the form of a naxal sibling. So we have cricket, romance, politics.
The film maker throws in references to real life persona ranging from Ambaati Rayudu to PV Narsimha Rao – always with glaring irrelevance. Our cover drive specialist has now transformed into a blood thirsty gun yielding goon who by force of circumstances is pitch forked to centre stage of violence and crime. In short it is about Don Bradman becomes Don Corelone.
We also have a Nayeem like extension like story with an approver Naxal with an eye on big bugs and tell-tale documents. The chaotic story lines head to a climax that could do a school play proud. In about the last half hour multiple things happen and the already lost story gets further waylaid.
The cast ends up taking the script as seriously as it deserves. The only actor who puts in mention worthy is Sri Krishna. Nara Rohit sulks with the awareness of the weight he has to carry. When an actor says he is playing a challenging role (having played it multiple times) stating that it is for the first time he is playing a role of Islamic police officer you cringe. Tanya Hope is appropriately Tanya Hopeless. Unless there is a radical change in the hands of an enigmatic magician I don’t see Tanya making the grade. Even actors with proven talent like Ajay and Brahmaji are completely lost in the din and dust of director Sagar Chandra’s indulgence. This is a film that tells you from here the next year can only get better.
Rating: 1.5
+ Sri Krishna
_ Nothing happening in the midst of too much.
L. Ravichander