'Sarkaru Vaari Paata' is out in theatres. In this section, we are going to review the latest box-office release.
Story:
Mahesh (Mahesh Babu) is the head of Mahi Finance Corporation somewhere in the US. When it comes to recovering the loans given to his customers, he shows no mercy. He falls in love with Kalavathi (Keerthy Suresh), who makes him believe that she needs a loan of USD 10,000 toward an educational purpose. When she doesn't repay the loan, the drama leads to Mahesh directly confronting her father Rajendra Nath (Samuthirakani), a Rajya Sabha MP in Vizag. The rest of the film is about how the confrontation snowballs into something massive.
Analysis:
It's not a Mahesh Babu film if there is no solution to a pressing problem facing the country. His characters have ended the misery of farmers (read 'Maharshi'), reformed the governance system (read 'Bharat Ane Nenu'), and brought in the much-needed Gram Suraj (read 'Srimantudu'). In 'Sarkaru Vaari Paata', the focus is on the 'baap' of all problems: Non-Performing Assets. In other words, bad loans with public sector banks. The problem is colossal, we are told. As a character says, rich men owe the banks Rs 13 lakh crore. It falls on the protagonist to make them repay the defaulted loans.
Director Parasuram Petla pens an emotional childhood segment for Mahesh. The story then moves to the US, where the love track between the lead pair is replete with irreverent humour and a remarkably composed song ('Kalaavathi' is the zenith of SS Thaman's creativity in recent times). The rom-com track's funny bone is tickled by Mahesh Babu's carefree body language more than Vennela Kishore's reactive expressions. For that matter, even Keerthy Suresh's expressions do the talking. The track can be seen as a mixture of cute and silly.
The plot thickens when the heroine rebels. She hits where it hurts the most. The scene shifts to Vizag, where the confrontation scenes between the hero and the antagonist (played to a mixed effect by Samuthirakani) are sometimes high on entertainment and low on repeat value all the time.
The nub of the story is not narrated in a convincing manner. After Mahesh delivers a bombshell to the villain at the interval point, the story should have intensely invested in the hero-villain track. Instead, a good amount of screentime is squandered away in letting the screenplay serenade with the Mahesh-Kalavathi track. Subbaraju doesn't make the cut here despite his decent comic timing.
Through and through, it is only the occasional sparks of humour that keep us hooked here and there. The songs, too, do their service. The much-hyped 'Ma Ma Mahesha' is full of josh and is consequential, especially because it comes after a crucial plot turn.
The climax should have been way more interesting. Parasuram's dialogues make the cut in entertaining scenes. But when it comes to the core scenes, the lines fall flat.
The Ram-Lakshman duo compose routine fights. The much-vaunted Goa beach fight doesn't register. R Madhi's cinematography is above average, while Thaman's background score is strictly average.
In a film dominated by Mahesh Babu (whose charm, swag and performance are unbounded), small players don't make it. Nadhiya, Ravi Prakash (as a bank employee), Naga Babu (in a thankfully small cameo), Tanikella Bharani, Posani Krishna Murali (as a passive punching bag), Brahmaji (as an active punching bag), Mahesh Manjrekar (as India's Finance Minister who looks like India's F Minister) are all boring in different degrees.
Verdict:
'Sarkaru Vaari Paata' is occasionally rich in entertainment. But the film is not about the fun factor. It's about the random 'solution'-giving that Mahesh Babu's films have been known for. The second half fizzles out after a decent first half.
