Power: Irrational mayhem

Ravi Teja in 'Power'

It takes a special kind of nonchalance to package a film with a string of sequences, one illogical than the other, and lull the audience into believing that they are being entertained. A few films have done that well and K.S. Ravindra’s debut film tries to repackage that formula which worked for Ravi Teja in some of his previous films. Ravindra has earlier written for films like Don Seenu and Balupu and understands that Ravi Teja can pull off bizarre situations with ease.

So, when the film opens in Kolkata and involves a chase sequence that’s supposedly taking place on the streets of Kolkata but shot somewhere in South East Asia, the audience is supposed to accept it without batting an eyelid. It’s just the beginning of a long, amusing ride intended to entertain.

Ravi Teja (Baldev Sahay) is a corrupt cop given the task of handing over a dreaded goon (Sampath Raj) to the court, but helps him escape in the nick of time. Sahay, though, meets with a fatal accident. Then, we are introduced to Tirupathi (Ravi Teja, again) in Hyderabad, who dreams of becoming a cop but has to stay content slipping into his brother-in-law and cop Brahmanandam’s clothes and taking small-time goons to task.

Power

Director: K.S. Ravindra alias Bobby

Music : S. Thaman

Cast: Ravi Teja, Hansika Motwani, Regina Cassandra and Brahmanandam

Bottomline: Absurd fun, repackaged. ‘Power’ is only in the title.

With some wit and shrewd thinking, he settles disputes between local groups wanting to immerse their Ganesha first and helps arrest a don from the Old City. Despite how irrelevant or silly some scenes may seem, they offer plenty of laughter.

We know that somewhere down the line Tirupathi will be sucked into the larger game of taking on the forces in Kolkata. And it isn’t hard to guess that the story will present another facet of Baldev Sahay.

The maze towards the latter portions gets crowded with a number of characters and twists, a few smartly executed and most others that will make discerning audience scoff in disbelief.

Every now and then, there is the possibility of witnessing a good mind game, but it gets thwarted with silly humour.

If Brahmanandam isn’t enough, there’s Sapthagiri to add to the fun quotient.

The force-fit humour works to a point, after which the film becomes a drag. Power meanders without coming to a close, trying too hard to make the audience laugh until the end.

The makers of the film don’t even spare a Patton battle tank in the name of fun.

The women, yet again, have nothing much to do. Hansika plays a con sadhvi and Regina, a volunteer who sets out to attack the corrupt Baldev Sahay but has no clue how he looks.

Hansika has done these glam-doll roles before. Regina is earnest and given meatier roles, might prove her worth.

Sampath Raj, Mukesh Rishi, Brahmaji and Ajay lend good support.

Power tries hard to amuse and has a hangover of Kick and Vikramarkudu. Ravi Teja does his part well but the film itself offers nothing new.