Remakes are a risky business as they are inevitably compared to the original and rarely do they live up to the original. If a remake succeeds in reaching the rising pressure of expectations, the director doesn’t really get the credit, but when the film fails, he had to bear the brunt.
So, it must take a special skill to remake a film which had easier access to the movie aficionados in digital platforms with subtitles. Case in point is director Sanjeev Reddy’s ABCD: American Born Confused Desi, a remake of the 2013 Malayalam film of the same name starring Dulquer Salmaan.
Aravind aka Avi (Allu Sirish) and his cousin Bala Shanmugam aka Basha (Bharath) are spendthrifts and don’t take life too seriously. Avi’s father (Naga Babu) wants to teach them a lesson or two and sends them to India on the pretext of a month-long vacation. The duo are forced to make a living in a slum on a monthly budget of `5000. They cross paths with Bhargav (Raja Chembolu), an aspiring politician and the son of the Finance Minister (Subhaleka Sudhakar).
What follows next forms the crux of the film.
WATCH TRAILER:
ABCD starts off smoothly but becomes a redundant and predictable mess when its director fails to fully exploit the comic possibilities out of an interesting premise. To generate humour, the script relies on lame conversations and NRI jokes of demeaning desis and their culture. There’s also a sub-plot about a political rivalry that our protagonists get inadvertently involved in and manipulate a cause, which looks entirely formulaic and kills the very cause that the film claims to address.
The story unfolds at a leisurely pace and is fairly uninspiring for the most part, resorting to clichés, cinematic liberties and coincidences every time the narrative hits a rough spot. For example, the way the protagonist and his cousin get along with the slum-dwellers and their efforts to come out of the situation they are in. Or that stereotypical portrayal of an NRI who makes fun of desis – eating ildys like burgers, desi girls don’t sport a bikini and some comments on marriage-system.
It comes off looking too contrived and reminds us why we got tired of watching the same kind of movies over and over again. The story suddenly shifts from an adventurous tone to a moralistic saga halfway through the film eventually derailing the narrative from its original track and goal.
If there’s another reason ABCD doesn’t quite hit the mark, it’s due to lack of emotional depth, slow pace and conflict that never rings true. Despite its outdated script and little scope for establishing sizzling chemistry between its leads, the film’s foot-tapping music definitely works in its favour.
Sirish, in all fairness, done his best to play Avi. He perfected in emotional scenes, but definitely not hit the mark, where this film is concerned. Rukshar offers very little scope to perform, but she carried herself quite well.
Vennela Kishore as a frustrated news presenter tried to repulse the audience. Kota Srinivasa Rao and Subhaleka Sudhakar have their moments of on-screen glory. Raja Chembolu walks through his performance as a wily politician. Director Sanjeev Reddy seems to have meted out unfair treatment to an interesting story that has great scope to play on humour and emotions. Watch ABCD if you have time to spare and nothing better to do.
Director: Sanjeev Reddy Rating: 3/5 |