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| Bangaru Kodipetta |
Story: A sales girl Bhanu (Swati) and a small time thief Vamsi (Navdeep) collaborate on a heist. In the course of the con job their paths cross with two brothers from Bheemavaram - Dorababu and Errababu and an aspiring actor Venu (Santosh).
Movie Review: The most remarkable aspect of the movie is that it does away with all the unnecessary frills that are staple diet of mainstream Telugu cinema. By doing away with songs, forced comedy tracks, cheesy punch dialogues, gravity defying stunts and perfunctory sudden twists, and sticking to plain simple story telling the filmmakers managed to make a bold statement at least, if not an undeniably good film.
The movie begins on a reasonably engaging note with Vamsi desperately trying to start his car when an unidentified man pops into the car out of the blue. Vamsi pulls out a gun and after a brief scuffle shoots the guy accidentally and dumps him into the bushes at a desolate side of the road, a little ahead. On returning he is surprised to find the car missing and gets run over by a speeding SUV. Even as an airborne Vamsi is landing on the ground a voiceover kicks in to take you into flash back mode.
Characters are introduced one after another. The most endearing is Bhanu, an eight class fail sales girl who gets fired for faking her educational qualifications. She is sick of living with her sister who is m
arried to a drunk and wants to get a home for herself. Desperate to raise fifty thousand to pay off the installment of her home she plans to rob a truck carrying gold, belonging to the company. She seeks out the help of her subordinate Vamsi, who happens to be a thief. He dotes on her but Bhanu isn't interested.
Disconnected from the duo is a wannabe actor Venu who doubles up as a pizza delivery boy while looking for that elusive big break. He accidentally gets drawn into a hostage situation involving two warring brothers from Bheemavaram. Thanks to a combination some smart screenplay and voiceovers all the characters bump into each other towards the second half.
Save Swati and Navdeep to an extent, none of the characters' journey really succeeds in making a strong enough emotional connect. Swati puts in strong performance but seems to lack her trademark spunk. Navdeep looks natural but there really isn't enough electricity happening between them on screen. The rest of the casting seems to have gone awry.
That said, the plot just doesn't pack in any adrenaline rush, especially the bit surrounding of the heist. It all seems to play out sans any edge of the seat thrills. Also there aren't enough funny moments either. Visually it does look pretty slick and the background score is pleasant and leaves you wishing there was more of it.