Film: Shakti
Starring: NTR,Ileana,Jackie Shroff,Sonu Sood
Director: Meher Ramesh
Producer: Ashwini Dutt
Banner: Vyjayanthi Movies
Music: Mani Sharma
Rating : 2/5
The biggest budgeted film till date in Tollywood’s history Shakti starring A1 Star NTR.Jr and Sexy Siren Ileana has hit the screens worldwide on 1st April. Made with a budget of 45 crores on Vyjayanthi Movies banner, Meher Ramesh wielded the megaphone for the film. NTR has delivered two back to back hits in the form of Adhurs and Brindavanam in 2010 and Shakti is his first film in the year 2011. Will Jr.NTR gives a hattrick with Shakti? Is Shakti worth its hype? Lets get into the details.
Story
Story unravels in the backdrop of Egypt with a person bringing Sonu Sood’s head and handing it to Sonu’s wife Puja Bedi. In order to demolish India and take Shakti Peetham’s in control which is Sonu’s aim, Puja Bedi trains her elder son as a cruel man. Aishwarya (Ileana), who is the daughter of Central home minister (Prabhu) escapes to Jaipur for a trip with her friends. Prabhu safeguards the Black diamond which was given by Nazar, later he leaves to foreign in search of a gangster (Jackie Shroff) for asking him the Rudrashulam, which the latter denies.
Unknowingly, Ileana carries the black diamond in her bag and Puja Bedi’s men tries to attack her for the sake of grabbing the diamond from Prabhu. In this regard Shakti (NTR), who is a guide, saves her from the goons and Ileana falls for him. Here comes a twist, where NTR discloses that he is an NSG Commando secret agent. What is the story behind the black diamond and Rudrashulam? How does Shakti safeguards the Maha shaktipeethams and kills the demons? Is the crux of the story.
Performances
NTR, who has been given A1 Star title with the film, has done dual roles. He looked handsome in the role of Shakti Swaroop and did the role at an ease. NTR excelled in the dances and rocked in the role but when it comes to the flashback episode, NTR’s role in Maharudra is a disappointment to fans. The costumes did not work with NTR and he looked odd. Meher failed to showcase him in a unique look and the role as well is wrapped up at a rapid pace.
Ileana looked ravishing in the movie. This is the comeback film for the Sexy Siren after a brief gap of her Saleem. There isn’t much scope for the lady performance wise but she has her importance, when it comes to the story connection. Ileana is attractive and did an impressive job in all her three songs.
Prabhu as Ileana’s father and central home minister, Jackie Shroff as a gangster were appreciable in their good roles. Shayaji Shinde, Vinod Kumar are impressive while SP.Balu is good in his brief role. Puja Bedi in a villainous role is mediocre while Sonu Sood has no scope for performance. Brahmanandam’s role is wasted while Manjari Phadnis is seen in a couple of scenes in a very small role.
Technical Aspects
Ashwini Dutt has spent lavishly on Shakti, and it can be seen visually in different locations. Sameer Reddy’s cinematography and Anand Sai’s art work need a special mention. The locales in North India, Dubai and Egypt are well captured. The basic concept of the Shakti peethams is a distinct and commendable idea from Meher Ramesh but execution wise, he totally failed through the screenplay. Connecting the story with the Egypt episode is useless with a missing fact. A couple of songs by Mani Sharma are good but the background score failed to lift the momentum especially in the flashback episode. Editing by Marthand.K.Venkatesh is patchy.
Analysis
The first half of the film runs on a slow pace in a typical Telugu film style with NTR as a guide and few comic scenes on Ali, Krishna Bhagavan, Dharmavarapu Subramaniam. The interval bang is quite good, where NTR reveals the look of an NSG Commando secret agent. The last ten minutes before the interval leaves you pin high hopes on the second half. However, the second half of Shakti lets down your expectations completely. The Maharudra (NTR) characterization in the flashback episode lacks punch and energy and the costumes were another let down. The climax of the film is wrapped up in a hurried way with illogical sequences and senseless script.
While NTR’s performance, production values and the cinematography are the plus points, Meher Ramesh’s direction and screenplay, editing and Rudra’s characterization are the let down’s.
Final Verdict
Just the title has Shakti…