Robinhood, produced by Mythri Movie Makers, releases in theaters today. In this section, we are going to review the latest box office release.
Plot:
Ram (Nithiin) is an orphan who grows up to be a self-styled Robinhood, stealing from the rich to help out the poor. When the daughter (Sreeleela as Neera Vasudev) of a pharma tycoon lands in India, Ram dupes her by disguising as a private security personnel. But when he discovers that her destiny is tied to the fields of Rudrakonda, a lawless land, he redesigns his purpose. He has a tryst with Saamy (Devdatta Nagre), an unforgiving bad man.
Performances:
The performances are clumsy and leave a trail of wreckage. The one-liners, including in the scenes involving Vennela Kishore and Rajendra Prasad, landed flatter than a pancake under a steamroller. Nithiin needs to show a vast degree of improvement. He looks handsome but way too polished. Sreeleela at least looks credible because of how her role has been designed.
Rajendra Prasad and Vennela Kishore could have tried harder. Devdatta Nagre is routine. Shine Tom Chacko, in the role of a dumbed down cop, is average. Subhalekha Sudhakar, Aadukalam Naren, Sijju, Dayanand Reddy and others fall flat. The second half should have had an extra comedian so that the main comedians could have been unburdened.
Technical aspects:
Adhi Dha Surprisu is a let-down. The brouhaha over its "vulgar" hook step turned out to be its only high moment. GV Prakash Kumar's background score has some grace for sure, but the songs don't pack a punch. Sai Sriram's cinematography complements the lavishness of the setting. The film is edited in a regular fashion.
Post-Mortem:
Action comedies are not supposed to be diluted by too much silly comedy. Robinhood commits exactly this folly. The story weds a non-serious robber's track to a damned village where cruelty is an Olympics game for the chief villain. There is a Home Minister whose IQ is equal to that of any comedy character in the movie.
And it's not like the track involving the main antagonist (Devadatta Nagre) is coherent. In the first half, we are told he is a law unto himself. In the second, hidden cameras scare him. The trope of hidden cameras has been abused and overused in our cinema.
The characters step onto a cloud of random conclusions. The low-key love track is a bundle of clichés, reducing the female lead to a dumb freedom-loving bimbo from a rich family. Sreeleela's 'thikka' character held so much potential. But she comes across as an ill-defined Trivikram 'loosu ammayi' in the context of bestial action in a lawless land. A character comes up with an Anxiety spray. These ideas feel laboured in the context of the genre.
Closing Remarks:
Robinhood is a colossal disappointment, plagued by clumsy performances, a nonsensical plot, and humor that falls flat. The film squanders potential with its confused mix of action and comedy.
