Narasimhudu Review

NTR is a prisoner of his action image. It is impossible to think him in any other kind of role. And it is equally impossible to see him in any more in such roles.

And that is the problem in Narasimhudu. A thoroughly predictable plot, some avoidable double meaning dialogues and out and out kitschy effort spoil the show. The drama preceding the release of the film was more riveting.

The story, purportedly a rehash of the Malasri starrer in Kannada Durgi, provides ample scope for NTR to parade his stuff (dance, fights and lengthy rhetorical dialogues etc). But everything looks corny.

NTR (Narasimhudu) arrives in the city, and pretending to be a dumb man, he soon gets down to bumping off Phani (GV) and Mani (Rahul Dev), wards of villains Pothuraju (Kalabhavan Mani) and JD (Puneet Issar).

It is now left to find the police, led by the commissioner (Ashish Vidyarthi) to find out who is the killer and why. The cops do manage to zero in on the killer.

But why is Narasimhudu on a butchering spree? Well, he is on a revenge mission against the villains (Phani and Mani) for raping and killing his sister-like girl back in the village that accommodates him wholeheartedly though he is an orphan.

The rest of the story is about how Narasimhudu takes on Pothuraju and JD. Interspersed into this mindless mayhem is the romance with the heroine (Amisha Patel) and the totally debauched scenes involving Palghat Milk Papa (Sameera Reddy).

The film, on first count, is too long and tests your patience. Secondly, there is nothing new or novel in the whole three-hour plus pastiche of patchy play.

On the plus side, NTR is good even on such a silly stretch. He has amazing energy about him and his dances and the fights are full of robust power.

His acting is also acceptable (but the much-talked about over two-minute breathless dialogue falls flat because of lack of context).

The heroines Amisha Patel and Sameera Reddy are in the cast --- and that is saying a lot. Among the villains, Kalabhavan Mani does his usual mimicry stuff and passes muster.

Ashish Vidyarthi as the cop is okay while Brahmanandam's comedy is also in bad taste.

Mani Sharma's music and other technical aspects are good. But B Gopal, a veteran of many masala movies, just seems to have lost the plot and the film just sinks at the knees like a crumpled pant.

Narasimhudu --- not a roar, certainly. And alas, not even a purr.