Mahesh Babu is cool. Puri Jagannath is original, creative and daringly different. When such a director gets the authentic acting support from his cool lead actor you can expect fire works on the screen. That's what happens in Pokiri. Mahesh Babu, Shayaji Shinde, Asish Vidyarthi and Prakash Raj all give sterling performances to the shouts of 'action' and 'cut' of Puri Jagannath for Pokiri. The result is that we have a reasonably hit movie even in the face of stiff competition from other strategically released action movies this summer.
Mahesh Babu's character is that of a professional killer who speaks softly, directly and acts swiftly. Mahesh Babu dons the role with practiced ease. Shayaji Shinde, Prakash Raj and Asish Vidyarthi are seasoned actors who understand the nuances of acting and the demands of the roles pretty well. While Asish Vidyarthi and Prakash Raj are at their menacing best, Shayaji Shinde shines as a media bashing sincere police officer. Puri has given a lot of footage and clarity to their characters in Pokiri to extract the best from them. Here is a sample of Puri's directorial genius. It's a fight scene. Mahesh Babu lands just one solid punch on the face of Prakash Raj. The impact is so profound that Prakash Raj becomes totally disoriented as well as loses his sense of hearing for a brief moment and hears nothing but a continuous high-pitched buzzing sound at a low volume. The auteur shows this by switching off the sound track and the audience only hears the same buzzing sound that Prakash Raj supposedly hears; the camera all the while focusing on a panicky, clueless and disoriented Prakash Raj as he tries to figure out desperately what's going on around him. The audience experiences the character's sense of disorientation completely. That's trend setting direction for you. We will definitely see the act getting repeated in movies to come.
There is a scene in a station involving Ileana and Mahesh Babu where the later wants to eat the Upma from the former's tiffin box that reflects the longing of a man to be close with the woman he loves. Watch out for that scene when you see the movie. Love and craving for togetherness finds expression on a platform via the tiffin box much like it happens in real life.
If art reflects society then the violence in the movie is justified by the violence present in the society.
The only thing that Puri can be accused of is the under utilization of 'Ileana - the curvaceous'. Ileana should have been given more footage to add more meat to the movie with her depth of dulcet emoting. With just good songs the movie may face some competition from Bangaram, which have better songs. Yet at the end Pokiri would win and can hold it's own for 100 days. |
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