Movie: Krack
Rating: 2.75/5
Banner: Saraswathi Films Division
Cast: Ravi Teja, Shruti Haasan, Samuthirakani, Varalaxmi Sarath Kumar, Sudhakar Komakula, Vamsee Chaganti, and others
Music: Thaman S
Cinematography: GK Vishnu
Editor: Naveen Nooli
Art: AS Prakash
Producers: B Madhu
Written and Direction: Gopichand Malineni
Release Date: Jan 09, 2020
Ravi Teja’s “Krack” is the first release of 2021 in the theaters. Despite Ravi Teja’s recent poor track record at the box-office, the film has generated buzz thanks to its slick promos and aggressive promotions.
Let’s find out whether the film has managed to impress or not.
Story:
Shankar (Ravi Teja) is an upright police officer. He leads a happy life with his wife Kalyani (Shruti Haasan) and a kid. Shankar gets irritated when someone boasts about their ‘background’ and beats them to a pulp.
When one of his colleagues gets brutally murdered in Ongole, Shankar’s investigation leads to the local gang leader Kathari Krishna (Samuthirakani) and his lover Jayamma (Varalakshmi Sarath Kumar).
The main story is the faceoff between Kathari Krishna and Shankar.
Artistes’ Performances:
Ravi Teja is in his element here. Playing the role of a cranky cop, who is upright in his profession, comes easy for him having played such roles before. After a long time, Ravi Teja has also shown his trademark ‘energy’ in ferocious sequences.
Shruti Haasan doesn’t have much to do in this film but plays her part well. As for the villains, both Varalaxmi Sarathkumar and Samuthirakani steal the show with their fierce acting skills. But it is Samuthirakani who gets the meatier role and length.
Sudhakar Komakula and Vamsee Chaganti as police officers make their presence felt.
Technical Excellence:
At a time when packaging with gloss has become the main focus, the director has extracted the best output from cameraman GK Vishnu. He has given a rich look to the masala sequences.
Two fight scenes in the backdrop of Ongole are filmed stylishly.
Burra Sai Madhav has penned dialogues in a style that is required for a mass movie. Thaman’s music is a mixed bag.
Highlights:
Ravi Teja’s acting style
Samuthirakani Vs Ravi Teja’s scenes
Cinematography
Drawback:
Predictable storyline
First half
Excessive violence
Dull romantic thread
Analysis
Director Gopichand Malineni, who is known for mass-oriented entertainers, has written a story that is quite predictable. However, he has given more importance to the narration.
The basic storyline revolves around a police officer trying to pin down a local leader, which was seen in umpteen number of films. But to repackage it in a glossy manner, the director has told the story with three elements – a mango, a rupee note, and a metal nail.
Each of these elements has changed the lives of three villains when they meet the protagonist. How? This builds interest.
Thus the story unfolds with a terrorist narrating his story and how he had been put in jail by Shankar (Ravi Teja) with a petty mistake (Rs 50 note).
Later, another small rowdy lands in trouble, and he seeks the help of Kathari Krishna (Samuthirakani) when then narrates his fracas with the police officer and how a small nail brought his empire down. If not for this packaging, the story would have been a plain and formulaic fight between villain and hero.
Gopichand’s screenplay and packaging have added some interest to this otherwise regular story with this element. While he has succeeded in piquing our interest with this, he doesn’t come out with the banal sequences.
The middle-portion makes us engaged in the proceedings with some stunningly shot fight sequences like the bus-stand fight, and beach action sequences. But the film again slips into routine mode after a while. Plus, there are too many fights.
Shruti Haasan and Ravi Teja’s romantic thread is also lousy.
Gopichand has aimed to entertain B and C center audiences, and his packaging is mostly revolved around action stunts, high-pitched dialogues, and stylish taking, rather than logic and novelty.
The Ongole backdrop and the ‘Kathari Krishna’ sequences might have added novelty, but the villain turns wimp within few minutes, thus diluting all the build-up. The twist to Shruti’s character also looks forced.
It is an outright masala entertainer, and the writer-director Gopichand Malineni sticks to this template. ‘Krack’ has a good dose of the Ravi Teja’s swag, but with ample routineness. It is a regular masala movie.
Bottom-line: Mass Biryani