There are movies that leave a lasting impression, there are a few others which will rent space in the mind for a few hours and there is one such film, which will put you to sleep instantly, leaving you puzzled about what exactly happened in the previous scene. If you are wondering, which category Touch Chesi Chudu belongs to, it is undoubtedly the latter. There was a time, when people used to come out chortling, after watching ‘Mass Maharaja’ Ravi Teja on screen but this time, they might come out bemused on what exactly happened on the 70mm. Although his patent dialogue delivery style and dance moves are intact, the story is too tawdry to outline his charm. Vikram Sirikonda’s directorial debut starring Ravi Teja finally saw the light of the day but just to find the narrative stumble on screen.
The movie is about Karthikeya (Ravi Teja) living with his Hum Saath Saath Hai family in Puducherry is a businessman and an evangelist of family values and affection. This too good to be true boy goes to (Pushpa) Raashi Khanna’s house with his family as part of the ‘bride-seeing’ event. He is so vehemently honest that he calls her an aunty and asks her to accept the proposal, for she is already at the tangent of ‘marriageable age.’ Of course, she rejects him at the first instance and how she suddenly falls in love with him will leave you baffled. Please don’t utilise all your energy in wondering why there are song sequels in the middle of no where, for it is an incontestable question.
This no-nonsense boy encounters an unpleasant meet with cliched corrupt cop and of course, a villain. In a unwieldy fight sequel, he kills the goon and says ‘game over.’ When your eyebrows and face muscles in liaison gesture a question mark on how a villan is killed before the interval, you will realise there is a ‘bhai.’ Of course, there cant be a movie without ‘Bhai’ hatching all the plans. His sister finds the bhai murdering another honest activist and decides to be the witness to the Police. Of course, the brother calls it social responsibility and encourages her to go ahead. She spots him, he chases him and then…Bang! Its interval.
Satyam Rajesh is the close confidant of Ravi Teja and they collaboratively put in efforts to produce some wisecracks and its an epic fall, literally! The only exciting part of first half is enjoying the beauty of serene and colourful pockets of Puducherry. Switching focus to Bhai, the second half is all about Irfan (Bhai), his dad and Ravi Teja as a cop. Yes, the second half is entirely about his past as a sincere cop, who knows nothing but resolving pending cases. ‘Pending case ki ending istha,’ his signature dialogue is all about how he resolves all the unfinished cases in just one song. Isn’t that amazing? Past, Irfan, Cop Teja, broken marriage with Divya (Seerat Kapoor) sums up the movie. ‘Tu sher hai tho main global warming,’ which translates to ‘if you are a lion, I am global warming!’ was supposed to evoke some chuckles but we ended up saying, ‘whattttttt?’
It seems like Venela Kishore took the onus of providing some hearty laughs.
Like most of the Telugu movies, the actress confine themselves to be a glamorous Barbies, trying to act cute and be head over heads for the hero. If there is something, that this movie tries to define, then it is boredom. Although Ravi’s age is evidently showing up on his face, his energy levels and style tries to masquerade the fact. Pritam’s music passes muster. The movie is absolutely capricious, but even if you doze off for a few minutes, don’t worry! You will up to the same scene, special thanks to slow moving plot line. Bottom line: The only interesting part of this movie experience is relishing some popcorn and coke.
— Purnima Sriram purnima@newindianexpress.com @iyer_purnima