It has been almost three years since Pawan Kalyan’s ‘Jalsa’ released. After innumerable delays, court cases and technical glitches his ‘Komaram Puli’ is said to be releasing with 480 prints across 1000 theaters worldwide. It’s got director S.J.Suryaah, whose earlier film with Pawan Kalyan – ‘Khushi’ set the box office on fire.
It’s got A.R.Rahman’s music, Binod Pradhan’s cinematography, a new heroine and a producer who is said to have spent Rs. 42 crore. Will the tiger roar? Komaran Puli is all about how these ingredients were mixed to finally dish out a powerless and tasteless dish!!!
Komaram Puli (Pawan Kalyan) is born in extreme conditions. However, his mom (Saranya), whose police officer husband has been killed by Al Saleem, brings him up to be as fearless as a tiger. Puli becomes a special police officer in Prime Minister’s security and manages to save the PM’s life. He is granted permission to take on crime directly in the state with his personal team.
Here he happens to have a tiff with Al Saleem, though both are unaware of who the other is and what ‘connection’ they have. Puli hurts the ego of Al Saleem, getting him to do mistakes and more mistakes. But Al Saleem is clever too. What he does, how Komaram Puli overcomes Al Saleem, and what he speaks to the world forms the rest of the story.
Pawan Kalyan looks like he is in the character, though he got a bit chubby (Never mind because the girls will like him!) Saranya acts well in the mother’s role. Nikesha Patel has a nice entry into films in India. There are certain scenes that connect to the audiences thoroughly. Master Bharath, who has got a very small role, got the most number of claps for his act.
is role conveys that even a child knows who the villains in a state or a country are. But on the whole the entire film is Pawan Kalyan’s one man show. He talks, entertains, fights, does comedy and everything that is there to be done! There are certain interesting points that Pawan Kalyan brings up in his dialogues.
It is the way the dialogues are delivered that spoils the gist of what is being said. The characters are too vocal and their dialogues are too loud. The story is clichéd, running mostly on contrived scenes. Visual Effects or graphics should have been dealt better. While the fight scenes are interesting in certain situations, they are not as consistently entertaining as one would expect.
The biggest problem with the film is that Pawan Kalyan has got five or six long monologues, there is one for Saranya, and another one for Manoj Bajpai too. Manoj Bajpai ends up being a caricature as he reminds us of Ashish Vidyarthi, and sometimes Subbarju from ‘Pokiri’! His silent expressions and sarcastic laughs are good though.
First lesson for Suryaah – don’t tell a cop story if you don’t know how. Second. Don’t use graphics if they don’t integrate into your story. And most importantly use star power to make the character stronger not the other way around. Suryaah’s story has so many holes that you could drive a truck through it.
The most gaping hole is the romance track. NikishaPatel is annoying. And that has got nothing to do with her poor dubbing or her baby fat. And then he wastes talents of the likes of Nassar and Manoj Bajpai. If you can’t make them act, what defense do you have to wield a megaphone for a Pawan starrer.
The next disappointment is A.R. Rahman’s musical track. He has to get over his Vandemataram and Maa Tuhe salaam hangover. Sippy’s punch dialogues are another big let down – something that should never happen in a Pawan film. Puli fails in a couple of areas with the main culprit being the lack of focus on the cop angle.
Director Surya tries hard to make a story of an idealist cop but falters by bringing in the one-sided romantic track which dilutes most of the first half. The other main culprit is villain’s character which is poorly sketched out by Manoj Bajpai. Saleem’s character that should have had cunning & aggression to counter Puli’s intensity & passion instead ends up being comical in most parts.
Nikisha Patel makes a forgettable debut in her bimbette act while Ali & Bhramaji are wasted in miniscule roles. Shriya’s item number alongwith her two minute role seems to be forced into the screenplay. The other laughable and unbelievable part is the Puli Team who despite their hi-fi fancy equipment and special powers is unable to identify the terrorist who is a part of their core team.
The songs look extremely rich, Sriya’s ‘Dochey’ being the best. Editing is sloppy. One wonders if there were issues with certain frames, because the pictures (only in few frames) appear too dotted for one’s comfort. Only the film makers should know if it was intentional! Music by A.R.Rahman has been declared a hit.
He and the cinematographer Binod Pradhan help elevate Pawan Kalyan. S.J.Suryaah had an inconsistent run through out his career, dotted with hits and failures. He should learn to balance it, the sooner the better. Tinu Varma and Vijayan’s stunts are good in patches. Graphics by Pixelloid could have been better. The editing though is a big let down.
The rest of the technical team go through the motions of capturing content. One thing is for sure. The enormous budgets spoken off are not reflected in the end product and that is something that the Telugu film industry itself should note. Loudness works but not all the time. Romance has naughty side to it but not all the time.
A villain can be egoistic, but he wouldn’t become a villain if he was a fool in the first place. Komaram Puli’ has its good moments, but it is the bad moments that out number the good ones by a huge margin. The film will survive only if the fans want it to. Even die-hard fans of Pawan will find it difficult to sit through the film.
The director should have stuck to making a realistic film about the cop and his quest for justice instead of bringing in unnecessary sub-plots & dragging it to a predictable climax. Suryaah’s inept handling has sunk it. He spent more money on Pawan’s image than Puli’s character. ‘Komaram Puli’ could have been a great film.
But Suryaah wanted the easy way out. He thought that allhe had to do was rope in a big star and spend big money to ensure success. The foreign locations, expensive sets and weak villainy don’t just add to an entertaining experience. Unfortunately that’s not the route that leads you to success.
Numerous references are made to the Power Star tag throughout the film with the best analogy being the “Simha” & “Star” symbols on a cop’s uniform being equated to the Power Star!!!
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