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Movie Review: Lion (By Hapra)
By: Tupaki Desk | 14 May 2015 8:13 AM GMT
Movie Review: Lion (By Hapra)
Rating: 2.5 / 5
Cast: Balakrishna, Trisha, Prakash Raj and others.
Music: Mani Sharma
Story-Screenplay-Dialogues-Direction: Satya Deva
Producer: Rudrapati Ramana Rao
Release date: 14th May, 2015
Expectations are riding high on Balakrishna with his last outing “Legend” giving goose bumps to fans. Powerful dialogues that are shown in the teasers have double the hype for “Lion”, directed by debutant Satya Deva. Let us see how the film roared on first day first show.
The CONTENT:
Film starts on an interesting note in a Mumbai hospital with Balakrishna returning to life from coma after 18 months. His name is Godse and he is CEO of a construction company. However, GodseÂ’s mind says that his name is Bose and he belongs to Hyderabad. In pursuit of truth, Godse sets to Hyderabad but none of the persons whom he actually remembers with another name recognise him, including his said-to-be girlfriend Mahalakshmi (Trisha). Meanwhile GodseÂ’s parents (Jaysudha, Chandramohan) and wife Sarayu (Radihika Apte) arrive to Hyderabad to find their son. All these people convince him that he is Godse, but his conscience says he is Bose. So, what went wrong? ThatÂ’s the big story one has to watch on big screen.
The EFFORT:
On-Screen:
Like always, Balakrishna is the lone puller of the total movie with his sincere efforts. He maintained two different looks of the movie quite well. In first half, his look as Bose is little rough and rugged. But second half has him in that handsome ensemble. However, he has disappointed with dance moves in songs, as they don't hook audiences much to screen. In some scenes, Balakrishna looked little fatter and that might hinder emotions some time.
Both Trisha and Radhika Apte have no big roles. Trisha had couple of scenes where she excels as Finance Mahalakshmi, while Radhika is purely there only in songs. AliÂ’s comedy and PosaniÂ’s one scene wonder just come and go but make no impact. Prakash Raj anyway steals the show for a while as his mere presence as fraudulent Chief Minister brings terrific impact.
Rest of the cast including Jayasudha, Chandra Mohan, Geetha, Chalapathi Rao, Suresh (senior actor) and former heroine Indraja did their bit.
Off-Screen:
Director Satya Deva still needs to conceive each scene better and better. Firstly, the film has fair share of flaws in logics with the story itself. Though this debutant concentrated more on BalayyaÂ’s dialogues, he failed to give similar strength to words uttered by other characters. Satya Deva might have thought of this as a Hollywood story, but he needs to understand the technology available with Indian police and our establishments. Too much mix of medical sciences, hacking technology and confused CBI logics confused audiences. Apart from Balayya and Prakash Raj, the director failed to bring best performance from others.
Mani Sharma is trying hard to impress us again, but seriously he lost form. Except one mass song with Trisha and title song featuring both heroines, rest of the songs couldn't get registered in our mind even. Background score is okay at parts, while it helped interval-bang and climax reach peaks.
Looking at some action sequences, we have to say that age is clouding on Balayya and fight masters Ram-Laxman have done what best they could. Cinematographer Venkat Prasad did an average job only. Art director Ravindra poured run-of-the-mill efforts only.
The PLUSES:
Balakrishna
Punch lines and second half
The MINUSES:
Slow narration in first half
Flawed screenplay
Songs
BREAKDOWN:
Newcomer Satya Deva has chosen an interesting plot for Balakrishna, which would have required some what more technically brilliant scenes and logical sub-plots. Needless to say, the film’s central plot is inspired from 2012’s Hollywood science fiction flick “Total Recall”, but Satya Deva failed in connecting the dots properly and using various technologies. That seed of reality in our mind tells us that the newcomer tumbled to adapt a science fiction to reality.
As the film starts, Balayya was introduced quite softly unlike the bunch of his recent movies. There’s neither a big fight, nor any stunning drama. Without any heroism, a medical world introduces hero to audiences. As the lead man thinks that he is Bose and people call him Godse, the ‘confusing’ logic seems to be stretched for long without giving any bouts of the past. That tests patience in first half, while Ali, MS Narayana and Trisha’s comedy isn't so entertaining. Same is the case with Balayya-Trisha romance which looked dull. But interval bang has the major twist, and the whole of movie is revealed by then. Somewhat, goose bumps.
In the second hour, as flashback comes into effect, CBI Officer Bose tries to grab our attention. As twist is revealed by then, film transforms to predictable note. However, better action sequences, investigation ideas and revelations would have worked big time but Satya Deva narrated them quite flat. Also he should have avoided too many close shots of Balayya from low angle, as our hero looks little out of shape. With all the twists explained before the pre-climax, itÂ’s nice treat from Prakash Raj and Balayya together. Again, climax turns rather routine though it got sparkled with BalayyaÂ’s dialogues.
Glitches in screenplay and missing of romantic masala and proper music fails to do justice to Balakrishna’s hard efforts. We have to blame the director for letting such loop holes easily out. Otherwise, “Lion” appeals to fans due to dialogues and Balayya, but regular audiences will find it rather difficult to sit for two long hours.
The FINISHING Line: Lion's roar is for fans!!!
Review By: Hapra
Rating: 2.5 / 5
Cast: Balakrishna, Trisha, Prakash Raj and others.
Music: Mani Sharma
Story-Screenplay-Dialogues-Direction: Satya Deva
Producer: Rudrapati Ramana Rao
Release date: 14th May, 2015
Expectations are riding high on Balakrishna with his last outing “Legend” giving goose bumps to fans. Powerful dialogues that are shown in the teasers have double the hype for “Lion”, directed by debutant Satya Deva. Let us see how the film roared on first day first show.
The CONTENT:
Film starts on an interesting note in a Mumbai hospital with Balakrishna returning to life from coma after 18 months. His name is Godse and he is CEO of a construction company. However, GodseÂ’s mind says that his name is Bose and he belongs to Hyderabad. In pursuit of truth, Godse sets to Hyderabad but none of the persons whom he actually remembers with another name recognise him, including his said-to-be girlfriend Mahalakshmi (Trisha). Meanwhile GodseÂ’s parents (Jaysudha, Chandramohan) and wife Sarayu (Radihika Apte) arrive to Hyderabad to find their son. All these people convince him that he is Godse, but his conscience says he is Bose. So, what went wrong? ThatÂ’s the big story one has to watch on big screen.
The EFFORT:
On-Screen:
Like always, Balakrishna is the lone puller of the total movie with his sincere efforts. He maintained two different looks of the movie quite well. In first half, his look as Bose is little rough and rugged. But second half has him in that handsome ensemble. However, he has disappointed with dance moves in songs, as they don't hook audiences much to screen. In some scenes, Balakrishna looked little fatter and that might hinder emotions some time.
Both Trisha and Radhika Apte have no big roles. Trisha had couple of scenes where she excels as Finance Mahalakshmi, while Radhika is purely there only in songs. AliÂ’s comedy and PosaniÂ’s one scene wonder just come and go but make no impact. Prakash Raj anyway steals the show for a while as his mere presence as fraudulent Chief Minister brings terrific impact.
Rest of the cast including Jayasudha, Chandra Mohan, Geetha, Chalapathi Rao, Suresh (senior actor) and former heroine Indraja did their bit.
Off-Screen:
Director Satya Deva still needs to conceive each scene better and better. Firstly, the film has fair share of flaws in logics with the story itself. Though this debutant concentrated more on BalayyaÂ’s dialogues, he failed to give similar strength to words uttered by other characters. Satya Deva might have thought of this as a Hollywood story, but he needs to understand the technology available with Indian police and our establishments. Too much mix of medical sciences, hacking technology and confused CBI logics confused audiences. Apart from Balayya and Prakash Raj, the director failed to bring best performance from others.
Mani Sharma is trying hard to impress us again, but seriously he lost form. Except one mass song with Trisha and title song featuring both heroines, rest of the songs couldn't get registered in our mind even. Background score is okay at parts, while it helped interval-bang and climax reach peaks.
Looking at some action sequences, we have to say that age is clouding on Balayya and fight masters Ram-Laxman have done what best they could. Cinematographer Venkat Prasad did an average job only. Art director Ravindra poured run-of-the-mill efforts only.
The PLUSES:
Balakrishna
Punch lines and second half
The MINUSES:
Slow narration in first half
Flawed screenplay
Songs
BREAKDOWN:
Newcomer Satya Deva has chosen an interesting plot for Balakrishna, which would have required some what more technically brilliant scenes and logical sub-plots. Needless to say, the film’s central plot is inspired from 2012’s Hollywood science fiction flick “Total Recall”, but Satya Deva failed in connecting the dots properly and using various technologies. That seed of reality in our mind tells us that the newcomer tumbled to adapt a science fiction to reality.
As the film starts, Balayya was introduced quite softly unlike the bunch of his recent movies. There’s neither a big fight, nor any stunning drama. Without any heroism, a medical world introduces hero to audiences. As the lead man thinks that he is Bose and people call him Godse, the ‘confusing’ logic seems to be stretched for long without giving any bouts of the past. That tests patience in first half, while Ali, MS Narayana and Trisha’s comedy isn't so entertaining. Same is the case with Balayya-Trisha romance which looked dull. But interval bang has the major twist, and the whole of movie is revealed by then. Somewhat, goose bumps.
In the second hour, as flashback comes into effect, CBI Officer Bose tries to grab our attention. As twist is revealed by then, film transforms to predictable note. However, better action sequences, investigation ideas and revelations would have worked big time but Satya Deva narrated them quite flat. Also he should have avoided too many close shots of Balayya from low angle, as our hero looks little out of shape. With all the twists explained before the pre-climax, itÂ’s nice treat from Prakash Raj and Balayya together. Again, climax turns rather routine though it got sparkled with BalayyaÂ’s dialogues.
Glitches in screenplay and missing of romantic masala and proper music fails to do justice to Balakrishna’s hard efforts. We have to blame the director for letting such loop holes easily out. Otherwise, “Lion” appeals to fans due to dialogues and Balayya, but regular audiences will find it rather difficult to sit for two long hours.
The FINISHING Line: Lion's roar is for fans!!!
Review By: Hapra
