SHADOW Telugu Movie Review

Banner: United Movies
Cast: Venkatesh, Taapsee, Srikanth, Madhhurima, Aditya Pancholi, M S Narayana, Geeta, Naga Babu, Jayaprakash Reddy, Rahul Dev and others
Music: Thaman
Editor: Marthand K Venkatesh
Cinematographer: Prasad Murella
Screenplay, direction: Meher Ramesh
Producer: Paruchuri Kireeti
Release date: 26/04/2013

After making flops like Kantri, Billa and Shakti with NTR and Prabhas, director Meher Ramesh has now experimenting with Venkatesh for the film Shadow.

Story
Rajaram (Venkatesh) in his childhood sees his father Raghuram (Nagababu) killed by the dreaded don Nana Bhai (Aditya Pancholi) and his gang (Rahul Dev, Supreeth and others). He also gets separated from his mother (Geetha) and sister (Madhhurima). Rajaram grows with only one goal, to take revenge on Nana Bhai and he takes the name of Shadow. He also gets a girlfriend in the form of Madhubala (Taapsee). Meanwhile, inspector Pratap (Srikanth) is brought in to track Nana Bhai. But Shadow killing Nana Bhai’s men creates confusion to Pratap. What happens after that forms the rest of the story.

Performances
Venkatesh went about mechanically with what the director said. Looking at his hair in first half, one can call him ‘Wig’tory Venkatesh. It is sad to see that Venky didn’t use his vast experience before choosing this film.

Taapsee was generous to the maximum in her skin show and flaunting her oomph factor. She gives visual feast to the eyes during songs and doesn’t have much to contribute in terms of her role.

Srikanth was routine in his performance and didn’t show the fire as a tough and fierce police officer. It may sound trivial but then he should have learnt to pronounce Shadow correctly without the Telugu accent.

Aditya Pancholi is handsome and has got strong potential but unfortunately he was brought in only to wear suits, shades and then get some kicks from the hero.

Madhhurima was brief but she was sweet with natural sex appeal and contributed in her own way. It is about time the industry focuses on giving her glam roles than homely roles. She has that appeal in her.

M S Narayana was not etched well in his character but still he brought few smiles, Rahul Dev was regular, Nagababu was usual, Geetha was adequate. The comedy team comprising of Krishna Bhagawan, Srinivas Reddy and others were there to fill the screen.

Plus Points :

Venkatesh has tried his best to carry the film on his shoulders. Despite his vast experience and talent, he couldn’t salvage the project. He looks stylish in a few scenes and has performed well in the fight sequences. Srikanth did a neat job as a police officer. Tapsee looks good, but she does not have anything to do in the movie.

To a certain extent, M.S.Narayana and Jayaprakash Reddy provide a little comic relief. Without them, it would have been impossible to sit through the movie. The title song ‘Shadow’ has been shot well.

Minus Points :

The biggest drawback of this movie is Meher Ramesh. This film seems to be his personal attack on viewers. Atrocious direction and ill conceived scenes never allow the film to recover, despite a strong star cast.

He has tried to incorporate Gabbar Singh’s popular anthyakshari scene into the film, but the end result is very poor. The film also suffers from very bad writing. Logic goes for a big toss and the proceedings end up testing the patience of viewers. It felt quite painful to watch an actor of Venkatesh’s calibre in scenes like the one where he calls Tapsee “Aunty”.

The placement of songs in the film is terrible. The ‘Naughty Girl’ song in the movie comes in at a most inappropriate time and many people walked out of the theater at that point.

The film’s ‘comedy’ scenes are silly and outdated. They end up irritating viewers.

Sister sentiment and mother sentiment scenes are quite popular with Telugu viewers. If well executed, these scenes usually draw family crowds and generate a positive feedback for a film. But in ‘Shadow’, these scenes just do not have any emotional impact.

The climax block is painfully bad. There is a fight sequence towards the end, where Venkatesh fights in total darkness. Only the flashes of gunfire can be seen. Looks like Meher Ramesh took the concept of ‘shadow’ quite seriously.

Aditya Pancholi looks very uncomfortable as Nana Bhai. Rahul Dev and Supreeth are monotonous. Veteran actress Geetha is wasted in a poor role. Madhurima does not have anything to do. Krishna Bhagawan and Vennela Kishore have terribly written characters.
Analysis
History has proven time and again that Meher Ramesh is a man who can only talk big but cannot deliver big onscreen. Despite repeated feedbacks and reminders that he needs to focus on giving some content with substance and not just focus on style and richness, he doesn’t seem to be aware.

While it agonizing to see how the experienced producers and actors can fall for his words and blow their money down the drain, there is a serious introspection needed for him. Sitting in story discussion and narrating scenes within four walls might be Meher’s forte but without doubt he is an absolute rookie when it comes to conceiving the same into celluloid.

There are many things he needs to learn as a director if he still believes this is the right career for him. The key fundamentals of filmmaking are missing here and it is more like he has made a product for his own conviction and satisfaction without thinking a minute about the audience and their entertainment. Selecting grand locales, dressing up the entire cast in designer outfits, bringing in Choppers and shooting in foreign locations don’t make a good film. What it needs is a good plot to bank upon.

If the plot is familiar, then as a director he needs to have the grip to keep the audience engaged for the two plus hours. Barring the production department, there is not a single department where he has scored. The film takes off with some energy and until the title song everything looks fine but post the title song the tale goes into a shadow that no one can see or feel. The first half runs routine and by the time second half comes, the audience is seen scratching their heads and grinning in disbelief. Pointing out the several blunders in the film and the miserable experience could take several pages but to conclude the rating is given totally out of sympathy towards Parachuri Kireeti and respect towards Venkatesh.