BOTTOM LINE
Predictable caper.
OUR RATING
2.25/5
CENSOR
“A” Certified, 130 Mins.
What is the film about?
With a title like ‘Where is Vidya Balan?’, it is clear that we are into crime zone and that’s what we get here. The film is another addition to the numerous crime comedies that are coming out of Telugu cinema for past few years. How two lovers Kiran (Prince) and Swathi (Jyothi Setti) get entangled in an unexpected situation and where it ends is what the film is about.
How is Prince’s performance?
It is after some gap that we see Prince again on big screen. However, the gap looks merely technical and not something that’s taken to revaluate one’s career and performance. Only this could explain the lack of improvement in the acting talents of the actor who actually had decent debut acting wise.
Direction By Srinivas?
For starters he is the reason why one should be interested in the film. He has in the past given an engaging film like Katha. Even his second attempt had everything in place which he messed it up though. And now with the latest attempt one can say that the director hasn’t shown any real progress or growth. Directorially this is a messy film with huge inconsistency and unevenness in narrative. The one common thing though is the huge chunk devoted to connecting the viewers to main leads without actually getting into the actual plot. While it fine previously it doesn’t work that way here. Things do get decent in the second half, especially as we move towards the end but again here we don’t see anything riveting.
Jyothi Sethi and others performance?
Crime capers which have kind of become the alternative cinema to commercial masala films usually offers something for heroine to do or at least make her a part of narrative. We see exactly that here too and Jyoti Setti does her best in what is given to her. Sampoornesh Babu is in form and more often than not ends up stealing the show. Apart from there are few other noticeable faces but despite their importance to the overall proceedings they haven’t been given proper outing here to create a strong impact.
Music and other departments?
Music by Kamran is poor. The background score follows a template style that one often hears in films of this genre. Cinematography is decent, editing could have been better. Dialogues are not that impressive.
Highlights?
Few comedy bits.
Parts of second half.
Drawbacks?
First hour.
Screenplay.
Alternative take:
Reducing the length of love track and fleshing out the other important characters and motives behind their doing would be a whole lot better version.
Did I enjoy it?
No.
Will you recommend it?
No.
Where Is Vidya Balan Review by Siddhartha
