'Bheemla Nayak', a remake, is out in the theatres. This is the biggest mass release in Telugu in recent months. Let's find out what are its hits and misses.
Story
Bheemla Nayak (Pawan Kalyan) is a gutsy Sub-Inspector who follows law to the core. When Daniel Sekhar (Rana Daggubati), who fancies himself as an unchallengeable rich brat, breaks the law, Nayak gets him behind bars. But before walking out of jail on bail, Daniel does something extraordinary, putting the cop in deep trouble. How Nayak and Daniel embark on a roller-coaster fight from this point is what the film is about.
Performances
This Pawan Kalyan is nothing like the one we saw in 'Vakeel Saab', 'Katamarayudu' and 'Agnyaathavaasi'. The characterization, the backdrop and the costumes have worked perfectly to amp up Power Star's performance. His performance in some scenes with Rana is awesome.
Rana gets to give a fleshed-out performance from the word go. He doesn't look intimidated by Pawan's superstardom anywhere. Murali Sharma's acting is somewhat routine, but Samuthirakani is subtle. Rao Ramesh is fun to watch alongside Shatru, while others (read Monica Reddy, Pammi Sai, Narra Srinu, Kadambari Kiran and others) are passable.
Nitya Menen delivers a commendable act in the limited space that she gets. Samyuktha Menon doesn't have much to speak.
Technical aspects
When the spirits were down (because this film is a remake and not an original one), it was Thaman's music for the teaser that made Pawan's fans believe that 'Bheemla Nayak' would have a fighting chance at the box office. One feels the BGM and the songs have almost uplifted half the film. It's a bit unsettling that both the title track and 'La La Bheemla' were exhausted in the first half itself. But the situational songs in the second half are on-the-point.
As for the visuals, Ravi K Chandran nails every single frame. The wide angle shots are impressive. Navin Nooli keeps the proceedings brief. The Malayalam original was almost 175 minutes long. This one is 140 minutes long (sans titles).
Analysis
Does the film stick to the Malayalam original? Yes, if you are talking about what essentially takes place between the two men, the nature of the schemes they deploy to tame the other one, and the spirit of the story. But the answer is no if you are talking about how the scenes/ideas play out.
Trivikram, who has penned both the screenplay and dialogues, uses his grey cells to make the original story more entertaining and watchable. He gets the pulse of Power Star's fans right and it is greatly satisfying, especially considering that he failed the actor terribly with 'Agnyaathavaasi'.
The film doesn't beat around the bush courtesy of Daniel wasting no time to up the stakes. The use of gun powder in a scene, the element of saving girls in distress and a few other ideas work with mixed results, though.
This is not a film where you would worry about how huge the action blocks are. Pawan's swag takes care of a lot of things. Moreover, most of the situations are about a one-to-one confrontation between Daniel and Nayak.
Director Saagar K Chandra gets the atmospherics of the film right. But the film needed better scenes in order to make it seem more inventive. The family audience may not find enough material in it to invest their time and money. The drama between Pawan and Rana needed to be more thrilling.
Closing Remarks
'Bheemla Nayak' is far more commercial than the Malayalam original. It gives several cinematic highs. But the film is not without some misses.
