'Unstoppable', produced by Rajith Rao, hit the cinemas today. In this section, we are going to review the theatrical release.
Plot:
Chicha (VJ Sunny) and Macha (Saptagiri) come from a humble background. Their greed makes them lose a precious sum of money in IPL betting. They have to get hold of Rs 20 lakh if they have to make peace with their family members. They set aside their day job and go on a hunt for the amount. The search puts them face-to-face with Gnanavel Raja, a dreaded don who has a rival named ACP Chadda (Posani Krishna Murali). The triangular fight is peppered with liberal doses of quirky characters.
Performances:
VJ Sunny struggles to evoke laughs, while Saptagiri draws from his repertoire of strengths. Nakshatra and Aqsa Khan were supposed to add glam quotient, but they fail at it.
Bittiri Satti's knack for repartees and taunts hasn't been made use of. Posani Krishna Murali as a cop is routine and has a rather familiar backstory.
'30 Years Industry' Prudhviraj (as a godmen who kicks his disciples), Raja Ravindra (as Tilakam, whose son is fond of KFC chicken), Raghu Babu, Shakalaka Shankar, Chammak Chandra and others are boring.
Technical aspects:
Bheems Ceciroleo's songs come across as rejects from the 'Dhamaka' stint he enjoyed last year. Venumuralidhar V's cinematography and SB Uddhav's editing never set out to create a charming spectacle and a smooth experience, respectively. They let the din get worse and worse as the movie progresses, never bothering to keep the film from sinking to new lows.
Analysis:
Diamond Ratnababu of 'Son Of India' fame pens the film's story, screenplay and dialogues, besides wielding the megaphone.
In 'Acharya', 'Padaghattam' was the word. In 'Unstoppable', 'Ilakatha mafiliya' is the deal. Ratnababu heard it for the first time a decade ago and has since not stopped loving it. He is clueless about the number of times it has been used in pop culture to the point that the term is now yawn-inducing.
The film opens with Prudhviraj's fake godman's character narrating about his past. Chicha and Macha, the two lead men played by Sunny and Saptagiri, enter the screen. That they are headless chickens becomes clear when they walk up to the son of the Home Minister and scare him about the consequences of being caught drunk driving. Sunny's character woos Bala Nagar's aunties by addressing cheap lyrics dedicated to their figure. We are supposed to enjoy all this!
This film equates comedy to using age-old slurs like 'Mulla pandi ka bacche'. There is a farting female constable whose character is thankfully limited to just one scene.
The characters have a weakness - they keep using one or another word repeatedly. Thotapalli Madhu uses 'Bheshugga' and thinks that he is some Jandhyala character. Raghu Babu uses the phrase 'Sarangapani, Samasyale undav' some ten times. Bittiri Satti uses the word 'interesting' some two dozen times.
The film's idea of being up-to-date is equating the concept of the pre-wedding shoot to pre-marital sex. There is a silly 'police vs gangster' track topped with an old-fashioned backstory of an eloped wife. Multiple reaction shots, multiple poker paces, and a liberal deployment of outdated terms like 'kasak lanti figure' litter the film.
Chammak Chandra's Parupula Paramesh was supposed to bring the roof down, but the in-your-face comedy tests your patience. The Dubai don who remote-controls India has no believable build-up. Granted this is a comedy film sans logic but the characterization of the don appears otherwise.
Closing Remarks:
'Unstoppable' goes for a toss right from the word go. It is too loud and outdated. What is worse, it never stops!
