Amar Akbar Anthony Review – Trust Us, It’s Bad

BOTTOM LINE
Trust Us, It’s Bad

OUR RATING
2/5

CENSOR
‘U/A’ Certified, 2 hrs 33 mins

What Is the Film About?
Amar (Ravi Teja) plans to kill a set of people who have ruined his childhood and separated him from childhood friend Aishwarya (Ileana). Akbar (Ravi Teja) saves one of the guys planned to be murdered by Amar (Ravi Teja). Pooja (Ileana), an event manager suffers from anxiety bouts due to trust issues and gets treatment from Anthony (Ravi Teja). How are all these characters related and what is their common goal is what the film is all about? Trust us, it’s not as complicated as you feel while reading it.

How Is Ravi Teja’s Performance?
Mass Maharaja Ravi Teja eases a bit of his mass attitude and gets into a class avatar. Even the mass moments are relatively subdued in the character of Akbar. Yes, there is variation in his character and specific personalities he portrays, but the wow factor is missing. The director fails to exploit the unique character properly and what we are left with is just a gimmick that is made only to feel that nothing routine is attempted. It is a big chance missed by the star and the director to make a memorable impression on the audience.

Direction by Sreenu Vaitla?
Srinu Vytla is undoubtedly a brand that has been entertaining the audience for a long time. Unfortunately, it has been on a freefall since Aagadu, and Amar Akbar Anthony does nothing to make one think he is back.

The routineness of the story is not the problem. It has always been the case barring few exceptions. The issue is the comedy. Srinu Vytla is trying very hard to impress, in fact really hard, and it shows onscreen. The latter is the quality of a failure.

Srinu Vytla with his experience knows what is needed here and plans and packs his script accordingly. The main revenge plot is freshened up a bit by giving a twist to the hero’s character, and the for the comedy track he got the whole bunch of comedians in place. There is also an attempt to blend everything together which again suggests the director is on right track with what he wants and expectations of the audience. However, after doing all the homework, Srinu Vytla fails in the crucial aspects of screenplay and writing.

With too many comedians the comic track is overstuffed. Add weak writing to it, and one gets bored with the never-ending funny tracks which are not at all related to the main plot. Yes, there are some fun moments, but they are very few and far in between. The main revenge track is diluted as a result. Not enough time is given to developing the protagonist issues which could have created a big impact. Also, the number of flashbacks and voiceover to explain things ruin the effect further.

The interval block is decent because for the first time the narrative livens up with something fresh and exciting. Unfortunately, the director fails to build on it and its mostly used for the comic purpose.

The core revenge plot is concluded in a simple manner without much twist and turns. The death of the character of Vikram Talwar was a perfect way to utilize the unique personality of the hero, but it hasn’t been done that way.

Overall, a couple of comedy blocks including the two halves and two scenes related to the basic plot are the only engaging portions in the entire film. Amar Akbar Anthony is an improvement from Mister for Srinu Vytla, but it isn’t on Aagadu level either. It’s a below average fare that would require huge patience to watch in cinemas.

Ileana D’Cruz and Others?
Ileana returns to Telugu screens after a long gap. She has a comfortable rapport with Ravi Teja and it is visible on the screen. There is not enough scope to perform but it is still better than the average dumb heroine characters that are usually the regularity. Will it help her bounce back in Telugu is doubtful though.

Leaving aside the heroine, Amar Akbar Anthony is filled with numerous characters. It had been the case with Srinu Vytla from a long time, but starting with Baadshah the purpose was getting diluted as a significant lot had nothing to do. In the film, we have an exhaustive list that includes the like of Vennela Kishore, Srinivas Reddy, Jayaprakash Reddy, Bharat, Raghubabu, Tanikella Bharani, Sathya, Abhimanyu Singh, Ravi Prakash, Tarun Arora, Adithya Menon, Shayaji Shinde and many more. Some have funny moments for sure, but overall no one stands our individually or as a bunch. Did we forget to mention Sunil, well, that’s how his act was, but it is better than his last outing.

Music and Other Departments?
SS Thaman has in the past provided few memorable albums to Ravi Teja. Here he didn’t deliver on music. Only one along was decent. The background score was definitely better. The cinematography was good. The editing should have been much better. The writing is weak. One can make out that the writers are trying hard to land a punch. It doesn’t feel organically developed. The picturisation of a couple of songs are neat on screen.

Highlights?
Few comedy scenes
Protagonist Problem
Interval

Drawbacks?
Screenplay
Length
Weak Story
Missing Emotional Connect

Alternative Take
It is simple here. The comedy track should be cut and in its place add more meat to the basic plot involving the hero and his predicament.

Did I Enjoy It?
Very few parts

Will You Recommend It?
No

Amar Akbar Anthony Review by Siddartha Toleti