Rating: 2.75/5
Banner: Mythri Movie Makers
Cast: Chiranjeevi, Shruti Haasan, Ravi Teja, Catherine, Prakash Raj, Rajendra Prasad, Vennela Kishore, Urvashi Rautela, Bobby Simha, John Vijay and others
Music: Devi Sri Prasad
Cinematographer: Arthur Wilson
Editor: Niranjan
Director: Bobby Kolli
Producers: Naveen Yerneni, Y Ravi Shankar
Release date: Jan 13th, 2023
Yet another biggie of the Sankranthi festival has arrived and this one has none other than megastar Chiranjeevi in the lead. The highlight is also the presence of Mass Maharaj Ravi Teja in the film and expectations have been quite high. Whether this was a treat indeed or not, let us see.
Story
Seethapathi (Rajendra Prasad) is an honest cop who wants to bring justice to his slain colleagues by catching Solomon (Bobby Simha) a notorious drug smuggler who lives in Malaysia. He engages Waltair Veerayya (Chiru), an ex-convict for this job and all of them go to Malaysia. With few twists and turns, Veerayya manages to get hold of Solomon but twist in the tale occurs when Solomon’s elder brother Michael (Prakash Raj) enters the scene. Veerayya has a link with Michael and it has to do with ACP Vikram (Ravi Teja). What is that link and how things unfold forms the rest of the tale.
Performances
Chiranjeevi has delivered a stunner of a performance especially the comedy scenes. His body language and ease was enjoyable and is a treat to his fans. Shruti Haasan was there for the songs and she was glamorous. Ravi Teja made his presence felt. Prakash Raj was usual. Catherine was brief. Rajendra Prasad was upto the mark. Vennela Kishore brought few smiles. Urvashi Rautela was piping hot in the song. Bobby Simha was excellent. The others were there to fill the screen.
Crew
The story was written well with the right elements of comedy, a bit of romance, sentiment and action but the script could have been laced tightly. The screenplay was decent enough but could have been better. Cinematography was effective. Background score was disappointing but three songs were excellent. Editing was required during the second half. Production values were rich. Art department was colorful and costumes were impressive. Action department did its job as required.
Hits
Chiru’s performance
Ravi Teja
Second half
Few comedy moments
Songs
Misses
Climax
Narrative
Lack of depth in emotional scenes
Deeper Look
What makes a Chiranjeevi movie work among his fans? Dance, mass elements, some comedy and an emotional plotline. This is exactly what director Bobby has done with this subject. But in the process, more than focusing on giving strength to the plot, Bobby chose a rather safe line by not experimenting much or making the content more engaging. He touched all angles on the surface and he managed to take the story forward with a certain pace. The life for the film is Chiranjeevi with his involved performance. He literally enjoyed doing this role and he was able to show glimpses of the 90s Chiru to his fans. The film takes off in a routine style and the introduction of Chiru could have been much stronger. However, things pick up quickly and the first half becomes engaging enough. The interval bang was also promising with a good action sequence before the bang. As always, the second half is where most of the directors fail to lift the graph. Here again, the introduction of Ravi Teja added fireworks but what could have been a powerful emotional thread between Chiru-Ravi Teja was not leveraged by the director. Yet, the film had enough stuff to take us through but the climax fight could have been more effective. It was shoddy and botched up with some ridiculous sequences. Overall, this is a film which is a treat to mega fans and though it lacked the required emotional peaks, it manages to entertain. In a way, it is a notch more preferable to the family audience so the chances of spinning good money at the box office are quite high.
Vox Verdict
Watch ‘Veerayya’ For Mass Experience!
