'Dookudu’ (Telugu)
Director: Sreenu Vaitla
Cast: Mahesh Babu, Samantha, Sonu Sood, Brahmanandam, Prakash Raj, MS Narayana
The Prince is back with his charm to amuse his fans with his histrionics. Well, a Mahesh Babu’s film is no less than a feast for Telugu viewers ahead of Dasara. And if it’s a production of hat-trick director Sreenu Vaitla, they expect a phenomenon. The latest release of the charming prince – ‘Dookudu’ is out finally after jumping several hurdles.
Here, he plays a ‘daring and dashing’ undercover cop (Ajay) up in arms against the Mumbai mafia, led by Sonu Sood (Nayak Bhai) & brothers. The chase leads the hero to Turkey where he falls for Samantha (Prasanthi), daughter of his superior Nassar.
His motive is to seek revenge on the baddies who try to kill his father Prakash Raj (Shankar Narayana). A do-gooder, Prakash Raj actually wishes to see his son as a politico, but slips into coma after the murder attempt on him and comes out of it after a couple of years. What happens in between is ‘Dookudu’.
Mahesh blows away your mind with his spectacular sense of humor and timing. He worked out really well on his physique, acting, dance moves, outfits and comedy, which becomes evident all through the film. His dialogues in Telangana accent may please the masses. But the film is a one-man show of the actor and he is seen dominating his costars including Samantha, who unfortunately is deprived of space on screen. The lead pair gets into the skin of their respective characters with élan.
Brahmanandam portrays the role of a house owner oozing grey shades. His SMS request scene makes one laugh to death. The next to mention is MS Narayana, whose show reel on the spoof of ‘Magadheera’, ‘Yamadonga’, ‘Robot’ and ‘Simha’ is rib-tickling.
As an aspiring hero, he puts up an unmatched show and is unique. Sonu Sood is seen again as a comic villain. A host of the other actors suits their respective roles. KV Guhan creates a canvas, through his photography which is intense. Narrative, story treatment and presentation bear Vaitla’s style.
Thaman’s music is justified with artistic picturization of songs, especially the title track, ‘Dethadi Dethadi’ and ‘Poovai poovai’ wherein sizzling Parvati Melton looks even hotter.
His background elevated most of the scenes when necessary.
A Sreenu Vaitla film sans humour over booze would be a miracle and the director gives no opportunity to point this out in the movie. But then, it’s amazing to realize that he could do wonders in canning fight episodes with a big league hero. The story, however, is quite a tested-and-tried formula. In fact, it is a mix of ‘King’, ‘Dubai Seenu’ and ‘Pokkiri’.