Shakti Movie Review

Movie: Shakti
My Rating: 2/5
Banner: Vyjayanthi Movies
Music: Mani Sharma
Cinematography: Sameer Reddy
Editing: Marthand K Venkatesh
Art: Anand Sai
Producer: Ashwini Dutt
Story,Screenplay & Direction: Meher Ramesh
Cast: Jr.NTR, Ileana, Manjari Phadnis, Krishna, Vijay Nirmala, Jackie Shroff, Sonu Sood, Prabhu, Nasser, Ali, M S Narayana, Srinivasa Reddy, Krishna Bhagawan, Pooja Bedi, Brahmanam etc
Release Date: 1st April 2011

Review

Story

Mahadevarayalu (Prabhu) is the central home minister who has a task at hand. He hails from royalty and they are entrusted with the job of getting the Rudrashoolam from Jackie (Jackie Shroff) since a pooja should happen on a particular eclipse day.

However, Fakhtoom (Pooja), an evil queen from Egypt has also got her eyes on the same weapon as she wants to conquer the world and avenge the death of her husband (Sonu Sood).

On the other hand, Mahadevarayalu has got his daughter Iswarya (Ileana). She wants to live a free life without any security so she escapes to have a holiday with her friends (Ali and others).

She is targeted by the group of Fakhtoom but in comes Shakti (NTR) as Iswarya’s guide. He protects her from time to time. Jwalamukhi, a divine diamond also involves in protecting them. However, Shakti has got a flashback and a connection with the Rudrashoolam. What is that connection? Who gets to win in the end forms the rest of the story.

Artists Performance:

NTR Junior does his bit as required. Though he is lacking those high energy levels and powerful dialogue delivery, he carries off his role in a matured way. However, the etching of his warrior character was poor.

Ileana looks sexy and appeals in the songs. Though her costumes were not upto the mark, she contributes in the glamour department.

Sonu Sood was okay, though his role was very limited he manages to make his presence felt.

Pooja Bedi was artificial, Nasser looks powerful, Jackie Shroff ended up as a joker with his weak characterization, the actor who did the role of Raaka was brawny, Prabhu was okay, Ali was average, Brahmanandam came and went, Krishna Bhagawan brought few smiles, S P Balu was standard, Manjari was ok. The others didn’t have much to offer.

Highlights:

* Visual grandeur
* Art department
* Music and lyrics
* Background score
* Ileana’s glamour
* Production values

Disappointments:

* Weak content
* Poor screenplay
* Logical lapse in the backdrop
* Song picturization
* Editing hiccups
* Directorial flaws

Final Analysis:

A good film with high budgets requires a strong team of technicians and effective execution of the plot. Here, the concept of the Sakti Peethams was appealing but then it takes material to execute the plot in the right way and bring conviction.

The responsibility of the director is to bring depth and feel into such storylines. For instance, the flashback episode dates back only 27 years back which means 1984. How can one expect people to come from Egypt with horses, have sword-fights etc during that year.

Another place where the Sakti Peethams are portrayed through library shots, what was the director thinking of? Saving some money? Well, that looked poor. There are many scenes where dramatism and high voltage of emotions is required but that was missing completely.

Except for one or two scenes, there is not a single scene which strikes a chord. Cinematic liberties are accepted but the director must concentrate on getting the audience to connect with his story first. After that, even if he shows something illogical, the audience won’t mind it. But right from the first scene, things have been stale and lacked any emotion.

At the box office, the openings might be good due to the star power and the hype about the budget but apart from that, the film is sure to fizzle out due to weak content.