Film: Pataas
Cast: Nandamuri Kalyan Ram, Shruti Sodhi
Director: Anil Ravipudi
Predictable, cliched and mundane, Anil Ravipudi’s Pataas featuring Nandamuri Kalyan Ram is an agonising watch. The director sticks to the age-old formula of a battle between a rowdy politician and an honest cop coupled with a redundant love track, a bit of sentiment and comedy in the mix. None of what happens in the film looks natural and it seems like everybody is trying to work hard to stick to a rather routine script.
Pataas begins with a corrupt cop ACP Kalyan Sinha (Nandamuri Kalyan Ram), who comes to Hyderabad and starts minting money through under the table settlement deals, much to the chagrin of the DGP (Sai Kumar). Strangely enough, the actor just waltzes in as an ACP and starts taking bribes instantly and the department does nothing about it even though they are aware he’s corrupt. The makers try to show corruption in a humurous manner, but it falls flat. Meanwhile, a local politician GK (Ashutosh Rana) becomes a nusiance to the police due to his criminal activity but the cops struggle to nab him due to lack of evidence. When GK’s brother murders a young woman, the police finally have evidence to question the goons, but the plan is foiled by Kalyan, who aids the politician. A confrontation between Kalyan and the DGP ensues and completely changes the plot. Kalyan’s transformation from a corrupt to an honest cop and his battle against the powerful criminal politicians makes for the rest of the story. The film at its crux suffers from a weak, inept storyline and leaves the viewers cringing in their seats with its lack of creativity. The romantic sequence between Shruti Sodhi (who plays a reporter) and Kalyan Ram is forced and unnecessary. Comedy sequences fails to bring a smile to the audience. The transformation of Kalyan Ram from a corrupt to honest cop is fake and unconvincing. What works for the film is it’s length and is wrapped up in two hours, which is a relief.
Nandamuri Kalyan Ram tries hard as the comically corrupt cop and as the honest officer with a vengeance, but the actor fails to carry the film on his shoulders and puts in an uninspiring performance. Sai Kumar is effective as the DGP and Ashutosh Rana is first rate in a villainous role. Shruti Sodhi hardly gets much scope to showcase her abilities and is reduced to an inconsequential character. The film’s saving grace is MS Narayana, who excels and provides the much-needed comic element. Overall, Pataas offers nothing new to the viewers and torments them with its routine scripts, stale humour and random songs. Give this one a miss.