Attack Review

Having been too much into knowing the mindset of revenge-obsessed criminals, RGV concocts a protagonist who makes it a point to say, "Evaroo evarinee oorike champaru".  May be yes, but why should RGV always tell such stories?  With Sarkar hangover intact, RGV attacks the (un)suspecting audience with gay abandon!

Gururaj (Prakash Raj) is a rowdy sheeter-turned-businessman who gets killed despite having had no active rivalry with any in the past 15 years.  His three sons - Kali (Jagapathi Babu), Gopi (Naveen Vadde) and Radha (Manchu Manoj) - are left in the lurch as the family still faces an existential threat.  Kali suspects the hand of Narasimhulu, his late father's old-time rival.

The film narrates in parallel the story of Abhimanyu Singh and his girlfriend, Poonam Kaur (who is cast in the role of a skimpy vamp), blood-thirsty goons who are ambitious to rule the roost.  Meanwhile, Konda is the one who got Gururaj killed in the first place.  Kali is clueless as to who killed his father and thanks to a cop who gives him confidential intelligence info, he goes improptu on a mission to eliminate his father's suspected killers.

The rest of the film is about what happens to Kali, and how the consequence changes the course of Radha's life.

RGV yet again unleashes his done-to-death narration style.  Bloody feuds, fratricidal murders, filial devotion - they have been seen.  Just that 'Sarkar ek soch hai' is replaced by 'Gururaj ek soch hai'.  Just that the 'soch' guides the son posthumously.

RGV's story-telling has long become hackneyed.  The short flashbacks where we see Prakash Raj's 'Sarkar'-isms induce a sense of deja vu.  As if one Sarkar was not enough, we have a Junior Sarkar in Jagapathi Babu, who bites the dust like a damp squib.  RGV doesn't care for Kali's fate more than Abhimanyu Singh and his voloptuous girl.

The second half gives a lion's share of the pie to Manchu Manoj and for all the intensity he and his most important follower show on their faces, the screenplay is not tight enough.  At the end of the day, it's about getting the mission accomplished within a few minutes.  The action sequences lack scale, if not gravitas.  The songs lack imaginativeness , if not context.  What is the point in juxtaposing mantras with murders?  The conceptualization of marriage in a language of bloodshed is hardly creative.

RGV retains certain quirky elements.  Examples abound.  A trusted man of Radha eating biryani while Konda is being tortured is one such.  Narsing Yadav's bonding with his dog is another.

As for performances, Manoj shows a new side to him.  He look is apt for this role.  He has an intense expression that clicks.  Jagapathi Babu doesn't get a memorably role, while Prakash Raj is getting routine.  Naveen Vadde fits the bill in the role of a timid son.  Surabhi is forgettable.  Abhimanyu Singh passes muster.  Poonam Kaur does a good job.  Others are just about ok.

Anji's cinematography could have been better.  The music and BGM are loud.

Verdict: An RGV film with an avoidable hangover.  With a paper-thin story and an almost predictable narration, Attack is tacky with a done-to-death screenplay.

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