Film: Bruce Lee: The Fighter
Cast: Ram Charan, Rakul Preet Singh
Director: Sreenu Vaitla
Right from the start, Sreenu Vaitla’s Bruce Lee has been projected as the film with which the director will break away from his usual template and churn out an original entertainer. Even when credits roll at the start of the film, Vaitla is credited for ‘original’ story and direction. And yet, the biggest bane of Bruce Lee is its stereotypical, clichéd plot. Songs, fights, drama, sentiment, comedy – Bruce Lee has it all, but the viewers end up asking themselves – ‘Haven’t we seen it all before?’
Karthi (Ram Charan) is a stuntman with the sole mission of protecting his family and making sure his sister (Kriti Kharbanda) becomes a collector, a dream their father has for her. With a nickname of Bruce Lee, he acts as a body double for a star and even appears in a cop avatar when he meets Riya (Rakul Preet), who mistakes him for a police officer. A sudden twist arises when his sister is kidnapped, drugged and manhandled by a deadly goon Deepak Raj (Arun Vijay). A furious Karthi bashes him up in typical fashion and sends him into a comatose condition. It turns out, however, that Deepak is the son of a powerful, dangerous man. The implications faced by Karthi and how he manages to play along with his dual avatar makes for the rest of the story.
The film starts on a good note and has enough in it to keep the audience interested. However, it completely loses the plot in the second half and is devoid of sense or inspiration.
Manoj Paramahamsa does a decent job as the cinematographer, while the visuals and action sequences are well made. SS Thaman continues to churn out repetitive numbers and the music is ordinary at best. The comedy too, which people expect from a Srinu Vaitla film, is disappointing as Brahmanandam does not get much scope to shine. What works for Bruce Lee is its length and it’s neatly wrapped up in 146 minutes. The climax, however, is disappointing and unconvincing.
Ram Charan shines as a dancer and in fight sequences and puts in an effective performance overall. However, the actor fails to convince in comic and emotional sequences and is rather expressionless at times.
Rakul Preet Singh looks gorgeous and lights up the screen each time she appears. Rao Ramesh does a fine job as the doting, yet stubborn father. Sampath Raj and Arun Vijay are first-rate as the antagonists while Posani Murali Krishna excels as the funny secretary.
The much-hyped return of megastar Chiranjeevi to the silver screen lives up to its billing.
Everything Chiranjeevi does is in his brief cameo, he does it like a superstar. He arrives in a helicopter, fights like a champion and exits on a horse.
However, Chiru’s cameo is too brief and almost inconsequential to the Bruce Lee’s fate. While Sreenu Vaitla manages to move away from his template, he struggles to come up with a convincing plot to make it entertaining. At the end of the day Bruce Lee comes across as a rehashed version of several Tollywood’s commercial potboilers put together.