In Jalsa the hero loved the two daughters of the cop
because of whom he (the hero) had joined the 'jana jeevana sravanthi'.
It required some sense of humour to enjoy the humour Trivikram had
weaved into the story. There is no such difficulty while watching
Julayi. It is because though it is more amusing than intelligent,
Julayi comes off as a mainstream film which anyone could understand
easily. However, the story doesn't interest you, even though the plot
has an element of sharp quality at some points.
Let it be told at the outset that Julayi is far from
being either a romance or a laugh riot. The film becomes mediocre
whenever Illeana, Brahmanandam, MS Narayana or Rajendra Prasad enters
the scene. What should have been an intense action, crime thriller
(yes, it is one, but only in bits and pieces), was made of a medley of
hackneyed situations for the most part. It might have been thoroughly
useful to have Allu Arjun pamper/woo Illeana in scene after scene and
song after song but only if the scenes/situations were better carved
out.
When the hero could have finished Sonu Sood at the
interval point, he instead lets him bump off Illeana. Only to give out
three predictable agenda points after the interval!
There is nothing surprising in the story. Ravindra
Narayan is sharp-witted, a great observer, a man of guts. Circumstances
put him in a position to help the cops nab the gang which heisted Rs.
15,000 crore from a bank. He thinks faster than the sharpest villain,
Bittu. For Bittu, politician Varadharajan (Kota Srinivasa Rao) and
Travel Murthy (Brahmaji), troubles begin the moment Bittu successfully
loots the money. Ravi won't let Bittu move out of the country.
Bittu's life becomes difficult by the day. As his
attempts to flee the country fail, he ends up killing Kota. Life
becomes thorny for our very intelligent hero when Rao Ramesh, so far
presumed to be a sincere cop, dies in a blast.
Julayi packs so much stuff in the first 25 minutes.
It comes into its own, again, in the last 25 minutes. In the remainder
part, the director lets the hero raise the quotient (but fails) by
making challenges and spilling dialogues like 'Katthi ki feelings
undavu, padunu okkate'. Arjun is accompanied in his mission of killing
Bittu and capturing the big heist to give it back to the middle-class
depositors, by Rajendra Prasad, an IPS officer who never had the need to
use his pistol. The director too never makes use of any police officer
in resolving a crime of earth-shattering proportions. As two men
(Bittu and Dhanush Koti) try to flee the country with Rs. 15,000 cr.,
none but Ravi is interested in preventing them from escaping through the
Vizag port!
Such cinematic liberties would have been forgiven had
the screenplay been tight. Once Ravi reaches Hyderabad, the film is as
much about wooing Madhu (a skinny Illeana sizzled in songs but her
talent was not used in scenes) as it is about the hero and the villain
playing mind games. However cerebral the games might be on some
occasions, they do not keep you on the edge because the villains going
after the hero's family etc don't make thrilling movie-watching.
Arjun looked confident and comfortable in the gutsy
role. His dances were not incredible but the songs were neatly
choreographed and well-shot. There is nothing special to talk about his
comedy, as his body language was not innovative in light-veined
scenes. Illeana's characterization was a bit different. Sonu Sood
delivers a dekko. He is classy and menacing.
Rajendra was good though he had nothing more to do
than putting layman's doubts to Arjun. Tanikella Bharani as an unhappy
father emoted well. Brahmi and MS maintained the wrong mien
throughout. Despite Tri's intentions to make a better use of these
comedians in the story, their dialogues were ordinary.
Technically, Julayi was fine. The bank robbery scene
and the climax scenes stood testimony to Tri's nimble style. The
cinematography, Praveen Pudi's editing and Ravindar's art direction were
top notch. The action scenes were all well-shot.
There are lines like "Logic lu evaru nammaru.
Andariki magic le kaavaali. Anduke mana desam lo scientistla kanna baba
le famous". However, what comes as a big disappointment is that
Trivikram's witty dialogues were few and far between.
It is to be seen whether the dialogues (apparently
the film's USP) and Arjun's image will redeem the film. Given a
demanding audience, let's see how far Julayi will do well in a month of
many releases.
Released on: 9th August, 2012
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