Dhookudu Movie Review

Undoubtedly most awaiting movie of the season, “Dhookudu” has come out finally. Super Star Mahesh Babu is quick this time compared to his previous hiatus before “Khaleja”. Samantha, who stole our hearts as Jessie paired up with the prince. Srinu Vaitla, known for his entertainers like “Ready” “Venki” etc directed this one. And Luckiest Music director Thaman provided rocking tunes for Dookudu.

Plot(very slight spoiler): Ajay is daring and dashing Police officer. His mission is catching a gangster Nayak(Sonu sood). In a short while, Ajay comes to know that Nayak in the past, tried to kill his father Shanker Narayan(Prakash Raj), a good leader who lived for people. How Ajay puts an end to the Gangster and his team in a dramatic way is the entire movie about. And of course some space is reserved for Ajay’s romance with cute Prashanti (Samantha).

Actors:

 Mahesh looks dashing justifying the title's slogan "Daring and Dashing"…And he without any argument steals the screen space with his stunning looks. He carries forward his comedy timing which is seen in Khaleja. While his short stint in Pokiri as Police is ever memorable, He extends that role of “Krishna Manohar” and perfectly dons it with cool one-liners and stressing the word “Police” periodically. He also wears white and white MLA role, and let me hold it as suspense the reason behind it.

And female lead opposite Mahesh definitely faces that pressure as to match the thunderous glamour of prince. Samantha looks very fresh with Mahesh. She is good in all songs…and why not in scenes, because she is seen only in songs. Chinmayi’s dubbing(dubbed for her in Ye Maaya chesaave)  did not suit Samantha in this role.

Prakash Raj plays Mahesh’s side this time as his father. The heart of movie’s plot and he brings life to that character and need to mention, very few emotional scenes between son and father gives that impact, should thank PR for it.

Mah”Esh” blesses "Parvathi" Melton with an item number…She sizzles for a while, but could not beat Mumaith’s “ippatikinka naa vayasu”. Happy day’s Sonia plays Samantha’s friend, has nothing to boast about.

MS Narayana plays role of hero-wannabe irrespective of his age. His role-play as youngsters like Ramcharan, NTR, and Balayya brought few whistles. Brahmanandam too supports him aptly with his craze for reality shows. SivaReddy get to play good role as Mimicry artist and even plays a pimp.

Sonu Sood gets big slot, but nothing different.  Nazar, Suman, Kota, tanikella, chandramohan, dharmavarapu, shafi, Ajay, subbaraju,Sudha, Shiyagi, Master Bharath…name them and you find them all here….have limited and adequate roles. Mahesh’s friends all did well while Vennela Kishore scores bit more.

Simple Revenge with Huge Drama!!

First half moves with good pace. Quick fights …Superb songs and pretty good one-liners fill the pre-interval with no gap. Cute romance thread between Sam and Mahesh looks much cuter as chemistry works perfectly. Director Srinu brings up “Reality-show” concept in to the proceedings, creating sufficient laughs. Brahmanandam handles it aptly; especially when he seeks SMS from audience is quite hilarious. First half which ends with a huge fight ( as big as climax) seem to be self-sufficient.

While Audience are content with the first, Srinu Vaitla plans for a huge second half with not much stuff but just to drag further the scenes he built in first half. He plugs in his regular drinking scene (Here Mahesh plays Balayya by beating his thighs), little confusion drama, pitching in loads of artists. While there are periodic laughter’s, there are more dull and artificial ones in between. Climax is again hilarious and ends with a sweet note highlighting the Father and son bonding.

Thaman rocks with his tunes while Kona Venkat smashes with his one-liners…

While Many one-liners like “Mind lo Fix ayithe”,”Bayam ante telini Blood” are hit with audience, there are still more in store in some scenes praising NTR and touching ANR and Krishna…where every dialogue rocked. Thaman this time did a great job and his tunes which already caught up like slow poison are still colorful on screen. “Guruvaaram March okati” “Dettadi…”…”Chulbuli” each song is good on screen and K.V.Guhan(Athadu) and Prasad Murella provides rich cinematography.

And Srinu Vaitla mixes the Cocktail…

Srinu Vaitla is in control for first half, but stuffs second one with his regular comedy giving way to some boredom. But he still maintains balance, uses Mahesh’s comedy timing aptly and rushes the film towards climax before it gets overdone. Dookudu tries to be blend of action and comedy but do not form a perfect cocktail.

Final Say

Had it been trim, and if it had an effective storyline, it would have been just great. Nevertheless, it sure satisfies Mahesh’s fans for no doubt. And it appeals to lot more crowds for the good things like songs, good comedy scenes having MS and Brahmi. And Movie as such will give paisa-vasool for it never misses being a regular masala film. So Mahesh plays safe this time and he gonna rock this festival.

Rating:

A Super First Half and an ok second make me give a 3.5/5