Bhagavanth Kesari review: This low-decibel roar from ‘Chicha’ is unimpressive

When you direct someone like Nandamuri Balakrishna, you have to keep all your credentials as a writer aside. And, it seems director Anil Ravipudi had no option but to yield to Balakrishna’s routine mix of larger-than-life characters on the screen.

Bhagavanth Kesari arrived in theatres on Thursday, 19 October, with massive expectations.

Let’s see if this roar of NBK can influence the box office:

Synopsis

Nelakonda Bhagavanth Kesari, a prisoner from Adilabad district, gets into the good books of Jailer (R Sarathkumar). The Jailer’s daughter Vijji Papa (Sreeleela) develops a fatherly bond with Bhagavanth Kesari during her frequent visits to the prison.

Her father passes away with regret that he couldn’t make Vijji a police officer.

None to look after the girl, Bhagavanth Kesari becomes “Chicha” for Vijji Papa and trains to make her an Army officer.

Meanwhile, Rahul Sanghvi becomes a thorn in the flesh of the ruling government in the state. Unfortunately, his men hunt Vijji Papa for a missing file.

How does Vijji Papa accomplish her father’s wish to see her in the Indian Army? What is the connection between Rahul Sanghvi and Bhagavanth Kesari? — form the crux of the flick.

Also Read: I’ve learnt the art of acting through dance, says Sreeleela

One-man show by Balakrishna

As a film buff, one can’t keep constantly staring at Balakrihn’s high-decibel dialogues on the screen. You need a story in the end. Undoubtedly Balakrishna is an acting powerhouse who nails any sort of performance.

The story of Bhagavanth Kesari starts well with early introductions of the characters. And you can’t dodge the regular-elevation sequence of Balakrishna who is lodged in a special barrack in the jail.

More importantly, you can’t keep yourself silent when he comes full throttle in the jail sequences.

The high his fans get when the actor throws tantrums at the baddies after thrashing them black and blue can only be witnessed from a theatre experience.

Bhagavanth Kesari has a distinctive roar. He could terrorise his opponents with a single word. Balakrishna showed great intensity throughout his performance. The way he shouldered his character as a responsible guardian of Vijji Papa and as a police officer is laudable.

With bland comedy and superficial dialogues in between, the story isn’t that pacy for the entire first half. If there is any actor who could make you laugh even in fight scenes, it’s Balakrishna again.

And just like the way he gets carried away with the uncensored language outside, Balakrishna has no beeps for his dialogues in the film.

Apparently, the director has devised a jugaad by replacing the cuss words this time so that family audiences wouldn’t have a problem with it.

Drawbacks

Bhagavanth Kesari would speak the Hyderabadi dialect in the movie because of his Telangana connection. And it looks as superficial as it gets when he mouths shayari (peotry) in Deccani — “Kaanon ke beech me dimaak kyu rehthi maalum? Kaan bhairi diyaa tho baat dimaak mein ghusti.” (You know why the brain is located between the ears? You get it right when a tight slap is landed.)

There’s also cringe comedy that Anil Ravipudi could have avoided in the first half — Sreeleela takes a bunch of answer sheets during the exam. When questioned by the invigilator, she proudly tells him she would use them as confetti to cheer her favourite actor in the theatre.

In another scene, Balakrishna straight away enters an annual day function of a school nearby to question the management’s teaching standards. He grabs the chance to sermonise the staff about the safety precautions a girl child should follow.

A private trainer outrightly says that women are not meant for the Indian Army when Balakrishna takes Vijji Papa to him. He doesn’t end there, he puts the girl to an endurance test by throwing her in the boxing ring — only to show his egoistic nature and beliefs against the girl child.

Related: Balakrishna called me ‘Guruvu garu’ on the sets of ‘Bhagavanth Kesari’: Anil Ravipudi

Performances 

Balakrishna looks as swashbuckling as he can get playing a fearless character like Bhagavanth Kesari. A novel thing that he tries here is not to turn romantic with his love interest.

Sreeleela delivers a brilliant performance as a naive college student Vijayalakshi aka Vijji Papa. But she should have rehearsed the lines more perfectly in the Telangana dialect.

Kajal Aggarwal doesn’t get enough bite for her character Katyayani, an unmarried woman in her 30s. She plays a psychologist, and she is vexed with the matrimony alliances shown to her by her family.

The sad part is that this 32-year-old woman falls for 50-year-old Bhagavanth Kesari for his salt-and-pepper look.

The soundtrack and the background score by S Thaman are impressive. “The Kesari song” and the “Ganesh Anthem” featuring Sreeleela are good on the screen.

C Ram Prasad does an excellent job with the camera.

Verdict

This roar of Bhagavanth Kesari might give “goose-pimples” to Balakrishna fans but not to true film lovers.

With a lacklustre screenplay and elevation fight sequences, this Anil Ravipudi directorial is aimed at fans’ service rather than telling a compelling narrative. An overdose of action and poor writing might test your patience.

(Views expressed here are personal.)