Basanti - Telugu Movie Review

Basanti

Story: A terrorist gang takes 80 students hostage in a college building. There's fear all around. In such an atmosphere, Arjun tells Roshni that he loves her. Bang! The terrorists mean business.

Movie Review: Karachi-trained Ghazi Naseeruddin's wants another terrorist cooling his legs in a Hyderabad jail, Babur Khan, to be released. Until then, he will not release his hostages. He even tells the police commissioner Ali Khan (Sayaji Shinde) that along with Babur Khan, 20 students will also have to be flown to Muzzafarpur in Pakistan along with the released terrorist. Ali Khan realises, his daughter Roshni (Alisha Baig) is also among those taken hostage by the terrorists.

Arjun (Gautham) overpowers all the security personnel and enters the Basanti college building that the terrorists have taken over. Predictably, the terrorists give him their kind of treatment. It is now a war of nerves between the terrorists and the police.
Ultimately, the police give in and get ready to free the dreaded terrorist Babu Khan. Arjun, meanwhile, is not one who will allow the terrorists to have the upper hand. A commando who disregards the advice of the police commissioner tells something in the ear of Arjun before
he is shot dead in the building which he enters stealthily.

The movie deals with a gripping subject and does not pamper those with voyeuristic instincts. There's situational humour but not comedy in the sense of the term. The film has a much more purpose than entertainment. It inspires one not to give in to a situation but rise above it, even if it means facing a risk.

Not once do you get the feeling that the hero, whose got perfect timing in his action sequences, and who impresses with his straight-faced and honest expressions is the son of comedian Brahmanandam. Neither Gautham's looks nor mannerisms remind you of his famous father. That actually should be a tribute to Brahmanandam as it only proves how he has mastered the art of comedy and his mannerisms do not come naturally to his son.

Alisha Baig does a fine job in the way she reacts when confronted with peculiar situation. She's speaks in English most of the time and appears quite natural in her surroundings. The director has done well to have a character, a girl student, who with her pithy comments, lightens the situation most of the times in the college atmosphere. The cinematography and music enhance the impact of the movie.