Tuntari, a remake of the Tamil film Maan Karate, comes with a novel concept. On the paper, it tells a human story intertwined with a message: Hard work triumphs over destiny. However, watching Tuntari doesn’t feel like watching a human drama.
Vennela Kishore and four other techies bump into a Sadhu in a forest while on a tour. Upon Vennela Kishore's asking, the Sadhu conjures up the newspaper of a future date out of thin air. The techies plan to cash in on the information in the newspaper. To their surprise, they find that they win Rs. 5 cr. because of the victory of one Raju in a boxing match. They go looking for Raju and find him. When they find Raju (played by Nara Rohit), they are intrigued that he has no clue whatsoever about boxing. Raju is a happy-go-lucky freeloader who doesn't work, is lazy, whiles away the time, and to make the matters worse, has a new avocation - that of impressing Latha Hegde.
Even after investing lakhs of rupees on him, the techies fail to make Raju learn anything. At this moment, they find out that there is another Raju, a 15-time champion, who is the championship’s actual favourite. It's this Raju (played by Kabir Dulhan Singh) that they should have pegged their bets on. They found the wrong Raju.
The rest of the film is about why Raju locks horns with the other Raju and how hard work triumphs over destiny.
As stories go, this is a mind-blowing one, capable of being made into a slick Bollywood comedy-drama-action movie. Written by AR Murugadoss, this story packs in elements like fantasy, comedy, and human emotions. To the extent that the quirks of certain characters are well-captured, director Kumar Nagendra (of Gudelo Godari and Joru fame) should get his due.
Nara Rohit gets to play a jovial character. Watch his comedy of English illiteracy, the mixing of cricketing rules with tennis, and the like. The comedy track involving the hero, his sidekick Shakalaka Shankar, and the techies is good enough. The comedy in the boxing ring, involving the referee Junior Mohammad Ali (played by Ali), is another interesting episode.
Sai Karthik's songs had a very good potential, but the way they are picturized leaves much to be desired.
Latha Hegde makes a fairly decent debut. While she looks pretty in some shots, in long shots, she comes across as the Manmathudu heroine Anshu. By the time Konaseema is playing, you are tired of the overdose. The director should have introduced an item girl to perk up the comedy quotient and used her for the Konaseema number. The techies go missing for a good part of the second half; they return only in the climax. Raghu Karamanchi is passe; his role should have gone to Sathya; it would have been fun watching Sathya in the boxing ring, preferably half-naked!
Kabir Dulhan Singh makes an impact. It's low-brow creativity that the antagonist is made to say in front of the media that he will kill his rival in the ring. Is this a boxing championship tournament or a lawless game being played in a hamlet?
The scene where Latha Hegde gets emotional when Nara Rohit says, 'What if I am not a boxer?' is touching. Such scenes should have been at least 2-3 more in the pre-climax phase, involving some other characters and the hero.
Verdict: A very good story. A film that has Nara Rohit shedding his intensity to do comedy, even while he gets emotional in the climax. The screenplay could have been tighter, though.
