Bhola Shankar Movie Review

Chiranjeevi and Meher Ramesh have picked to remake Ajith’s Vedalam for their first-time collaboration. Meher is a die-hard fan of Megastar and it is a great opportunity for his comeback as he wields a megaphone after a very long hiatus. Let’s see whether Meher Ramesh succeeded or not with his attempt.

What is it about?

The film starts with woman-trafficking. Shankar (Chiranjeevi) arrives in Kolkata with his sister Maha (Keerthy Suresh) for her education. After enrolling her in the college, Shankar turns a taxi driver for livelihood. Calcutta police seek the help of taxi drivers in woman-trafficking crimes. Shankar gives a crucial clue which lands him in trouble. Lasya (Tamannah)’s brother Srikhar (Sushanth) loves Maha (Keerthy) and Shankar approves of it. However, when advocate Lasya learns about Shankar’s hidden activities and his killings, she decides to stop her brother’s wedding with Maha. Shankar reveals his past and his motive behind coming to Kolkata. How he hunts down a crime network involving women trafficking and how he settles all the old scores forms the crux of the story.

Performances:

If Bhola Shankar is sinking ship, Chiranjeevi holds it to an extent with his performance and grace. His dances and mannerisms engage for some time. Keerthy Suresh as sister is okay, she doesn’t have enough scenes to perform. Tamannah looks bubbly on screen and couldn’t leave any impact. Her dances with Chiru are eye-candy. Vennela Kishore, Getup Srinu and Sreemukhi’s scenes have failed to engage. The villains too failed on screen as they are bogged down by their characterisations and scenes. Old-fashioned writing didn’t give enough scope for artists to shine with their performance. None of the other cast gets significance in this film.

Technicalities:

Handling remakes need expertise. Meher Ramesh has failed in both writing and direction. He just relies on an outdated and routine template which didn’t work in the film’s favour. Two Songs are good to watch because of Chiru’s dance. Cinematography is good. Mahati Swara Sagar disappoints with the background score. Technically, Bhola doesn’t score.

Thumbs Up

Chiranjeevi

Thumbs Down

First Half

BGM

Not A Single Convincing Scene

Climax

Analysis:

Chiranjeevi is not new to doing remake movies. In fact, after beginning his second-innings, Chiru has done – Khaidi No 150 (Kathi remake), Godfather (Lucifer remake) and now Bhola Shankar (Vedalam remake). The graph is clearly declining. In this remake trilogy, Bhola Shankar is the weakest remake from Chiru. This credit goes to director Meher Ramesh as he failed to make this appeal with his outdated direction. 

On top of that, there was no proper effort to make it fresh and relevant. Director Meher Ramesh is known for his stylish presentation. This time, he even failed in style too. He could not place at least one stylish scene to his favourite Mega Star. Bhola Shankar lacked both style and substance. The first-half of the film is totally a big let down.

However, Bhola Shankar has one major asset which is Megastar Chiranjeevi. He is the blessing as his grace rescued the film to an extent. He is the one and only strength for the film which sustains some interest in it. His dance moves are the best. It is not easy to deliver such dance moments at this age and Chiru once again lived upto this tag. Even in the comedy sequence that comes after the interval, Chiru made his mark by generating humour along with the gang of comedians. The Bhola bhai moments here worked partially.  The Kushi mid-riff (Nadumu) scene has been pulled off well by Chiru with his mannerisms. But these are forced scenes which won’t add any gravity to the movie. His imitation of Pawan’s mannerisms also look unwanted.

In the whole film, this 20-minute after interval is what one hooks to the seats. But as the film proceeds with the story, it goes back to the usual boring template. It is full of predictability and even the climax is disengaging. Neither emotion, nor drama worked in the film, leaving viewers disconnected. The villains and their sequences have failed to engage. Visually, the film looks rich. Cinematography deserves special mention. But the background music doesn’t elevate the scenes.

Vedalam itself is a 2015 film. When it is being remade, one expects a better upgrade. But Bhola is stuck in the older format. It is a down-grade version and a putrid remake in fact. Chiru & Meher duo disappoint with formulaic approach. There are no goosebump moments either. Clearly, the lack of high moments may disappoint fans as well. All these make Bhola Shankar a boring and tedious watch. Meher Ramesh missed comeback opportunity.

Verdict: A Lackluster Remake

Rating: 2/5