Movie Review Hero

Sree Manyam Suryanarayana Presents Manyam Entertainments

Hero (2008)
Cast: Nitin, Bhavana, Nagababu, Ramyakrishna, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Brahmanandam, Babumohan, Ali, Kovai Sarala, Satyam Rajesh, Tirupathi Prakash, Tarzan, Malladi Raghava, Vizag Prasad, Priyanka, Tanu Roy, etc.

Story, Screenplay: G.V. Sudhakar Naidu
Dialogues: Nivas
Dialogue Assistant: Sateesh
Cinematography: C. Ramprasad
Art: Anand Sai Makeup: P.R. Shashikanth
Costumes: Shaji, Ravi K. Pilla
Choreography: Prem Rakshit, Noble, Shobi
Fights: Kanal Kannan, Nandaraj Music: Mani Sarma
DTS Mixing: Shyamal Sikdhar
Lyrics: Anantha Sriram, Bhaskarabhatla
Editing: Marthand K. Venkatesh
DI & Visual Effects: Prime Focus
Producer: Manyam Ramesh
Co-director: Vijayasarathi
Direction: G.V. Sudhakar Naidu (debut)
CBFC Rating: U/A


Summary:
An action-oriented flick that revolves around the Police Academy

What's it all about?
Radha Krishna (Nitin) is the son of the Commissioner of Police Nagendra Naidu (Nagababu), who has the support of his mother Sarala (Kovai Sarala) for his careless attitude. The Home Minister of the State (Babumohan) passes a G.O. that allows every honest individual to join the police force so as to bring in more people into maintaining the law and order of the land. A whole mob of people (Sravana Sandhya, Brahmanandam, Satyam Rajesh, Tirupathi Prakash, Tarzan, Priyanka, etc.) including a homely Krishnaveni (Bhavana) queue up at the Police Academy headed by (Ramyakrishna). Eventually, it's learnt that one of those who joined the Academy thus is a naxalite on the run! Was it wrong to allow everyone into the police force?

Performances Cast:
Nitin does an okay job, but his character is much limited and doesn't give much scope to emote. He has a differently styled attire, which fits him okay. Bhavana looks the girl next door and performs okay, but her character is shallow too. Nagababu as the Commissioner of Police has a lengthy role to play and he's his usual. Ramyakrishna has a short role as the Director of the A.P. Police Academy. Kapil Khanna as the professional killer from Dubai is fitting. Kota Srinivasa Rao as the main villain Prem Kumar has a rolethat seriously lacks depth or definition. Brahmanandam, Satyam Rajesh, Tirupathi Prakash, Ali and all others are all wasted, like the rest of the lead cast. Tanu Royappears in an item song that's totally unnecessary for the film.

Technical Departments:
The plot point that anyone can join the police force is innovative. However, the screenplay is totally flat. The first half lacks any story movement, yet has an interesting interval bang. However, the debutant director G.V. fails in keeping the interest through the second half. The taking is seriously affected by various inconsistencies. While his story narration and screenplay seem to be good, he somehow fails in the overall job of running the direction department well. Camerawork is particularly good, but DI work brings in inconsistencies pertaining to focus and lighting. Picturization of songs is okay, but the song placement is totally nonsensical.

Choreography offers good moments to the hero to portray his skill but is not a wow. The sets used for songs indicate commendable work bythe Art department. Fights are executed in style, without any slow-motion highlighting, which makes them worth watching. Dialogues are just okay, but they could have more punch given the theme of the film. Music score is good, but some of the tunes are directly lifted - sye kurraaDE... from Shake it ( Naksha), naa vayasE puvvula poTlam... from prEm jaal mein... ( Jis Des Mein Ganga Rahta Hai), and parts of Yahoo Yahoo... from Hutch phone ammaayi... ( Godava); Don and Crazy Frog tracks can be heard all over the film. as a part of the BGM. Lyrics by Anantha Sriram leave much to expect, while Bhaskarabhatla's mass-oriented song delivers with the goods. Lyrics could have been affected by the improper song placement too.

Editing could have been much crisper. Costumes for the lead roles are eye-catching. However, giving branded wear and formal attires to the imprisoned villain and to Brahmanandam doesn't make much sense; makeup and hairstyling for the lead artistes complements the costumes and brings in a stylish look to the hero and a homely looks to the heroine, as appropriate to their characters. Production values are rich, and the debut producer Ramesh should be appreciated for spending lavishly for the film; how much of it was useful is a different question.

Notable Scenes/Dialogues:

* " Public-lO oka 2% maatram criminals unnaaru. kaanee, mee Police Department-lO 1% ayinaa sincere officers unnaaraa?" (A common man questioning the police in a TV show)
* " oka mass hero-ki kaavala sinavannii maa Police Academy-lO mooDu nelallO nErpistaarE!" (Nagababu to Kovai Sarala)
* " dESam kOsam sainikuDu, nyaayam kOsam police-ODu chaavaDam ee dESaaniki kotta kaaduraa!" (Nagababu to Kapil Khanna)
* Sun rise in Kapil Khanna's goggles, tricolor flag reflecting in the eye of the ACB officer, a goon's reddened eyes going on to become Nitin's goggles, and other good visuals.

Minor Overlook:

+ A camera mobile phone has a 5 km zoom?! Wow! When honest and responsible citizens are invited to join the Police Academy, why is that every Tom, Dick, and Harry come and join? What's their motivation to join in the first place, when they appear outright careless and casual about the whole thing?!
+ The plaster on Nitin's face is shown clearly in the song kannullOna kanabaDi... song a few times. (Reviewer's Note: Nitin was injured while shooting for his yet-to-release film Drona and the plaster was due to this injury.)
+ Kapil Khanna is shown up close many times while he speaks, and it's very clear that he's not talking his lines in Telugu! Some care should have been taken in his pronunciation.
+ Sunrise in Kapil Khanna's goggles are good, alright, and the merging shot showing the passage of time through this shot is not easily comprehensible. (If it's not a merging shot, it'd seem like the murder happened early in the morning, and a mobile store cannot be open at that time.)

Bottom Line:
Hero doesn't seem like a run of the mill story, but the novelty is lost soon. The taking and shallow characterizations mar the film. Not even one character is rightly established in the film! Add to this the quite improper song placement, and ill logic, and all these aspects together influence the film's run.