Ghani Review – Outdated Boxing Drama

BOTTOM LINE
Outdated Boxing Drama

OUR RATING
2.25/5

CENSOR

Drama , Sports • UA

What Is the Film About?

Ghani (Varun Tej) is a son of a stained boxer. His father is caught cheating using drugs and substances while boxing. He is branded as a cheater. The movie’s basic plot is how Ghani absolves his father’s name and achieves his goal (a dream of his father) to win the boxing tournament.

Ghani’s mother (Nadhiya) not letting him take up boxing forms the subplot. How Ghani moves his focus toward boxing, hiding it from his mother and what’s her reaction eventually comprises the overall movie.

Performances

The performance of Varun Tej in Ghani’s role needs to be seen via two lenses. One is that of physicality, and the other is acting. The effort is visible when it comes to the former, and it works as intended during the training montage song and the climax fight block. He appears well built and imposing, which adds to the screen presence.

However, when it comes to acting, Varun Tej is alright. He looks normal (as in seen in any other film) for the most part. He goes about the proceedings in his typical way. The raw intensity for the part feels missing, barring a few moments towards the end. Ghani is another good attempt for him filmography wise, but it doesn’t end up being memorable acting-wise.

Saiee Majrekar making her Telugu debut is seen in an inconsequential role. She has typical commercial heroine scenes in the first half and goes missing during the second hour. Unfortunately for her, the utterly routine and bland commercial stuff fail to generate any impact.

Analysis

Ghani marks debut of Kiran Korrapati as a director. He has picked a simple yet tough genre to crack in his first attempt. We know why it is so and explicitly watching Ghani.

As we have mentioned many times in the past, the sports genre looks the most simple but is extremely tough to execute engagingly. The main issue is the predictable beats it has to follow. There are cliches galore a sports genre film has to engage in. The challenge lies in presenting them freshly. Director Kiran Korrapati fails big time in this regard.

Everything is laid bare related to Ghani’s story within the opening fifteen minutes itself. We know where it’s headed and can second guess how. The challenge lies in coming up with something fresh concerning ‘how’ it reached the end. Unfortunately, we see nothing—the lack of making the drama appealing further compounds the effect.

The entire love track in the first half screams cliche. There is not an iota of freshness anywhere with banal writing to boost. The whole thing feels like a distraction only to lead to the inevitable.

The conflict between mother and son about boxing doesn’t offer anything new either. It is as old as the hills. We can see how the proceedings will happen once the problem is set, and voila, we get precisely that without any attempt to tweak it or freshen it up a bit.

There is a slight twist around the interval mark which is alright, and it leads to a flashback during the beginning of the second half. In these brief proceedings, we see what Kiran Korrapati misses in Ghani. There is nothing new in these sequences, but the minor tweaks from the routine make the proceedings slightly engaging.

The second half maintains the momentum of the decent start and proceeds that way. There is nothing new, but a few blocks work out. The title song immediately comes to mind, and then the two boxing matches towards the end. They are neatly done and hold attention intermittently.

The problem in the second half again is the cliched and outdated drama. It is better compared to the first only because it sticks to the theme and goes about its way. Despite the decent boxing moments and aggression, the ending is diluted due to the typical and predictable drama.

Overall, Ghani is a glossy sports film with good cast and production values. Sadly, all its drama is outdated, with an utterly predictable story to boost. It ends up as a below-par movie in the end.

Performances by Others Actors

Ghani comprises a vast cast. Even for minor roles, we see notable faces. But, not all the suitable for the part and even those who are, get half baked or utterly predictable roles that lack surprise. Nadhiya falls into that latter category. She is decent, but we have seen her do the same previously.

Upendra in a brief supporting role is fine. It might appear out of sync with the rest, but it’s a short one to have a drastic impact. Sunil Shetty gets another predictable part of a coach. He is adequate and does well.

Jagapathi Babu gets another decent antagonist part. He has done many roles in a similar vein, and hence despite his good work, there is no surprise with it at all. Naresh is a good actor on his day, but he is totally miscast as a boxing coach. And finally, Naveen Chandra starts on an exciting note but gets sidelined with a half baked part in the second half. The rest of the actors are okay.

Music and Other Departments?

S Thaman provides the music for Ghani. Barring the title song, nothing really works. When it comes to the background score, he seems to have slipped into the thinking that the louder, the better. Well, that is not the case here, as the earsplitting BGM induces a headache. George C Willaims’s cinematography is neat. The boxing scenes are shot well. Marthand K Venkatesh’s editing is okay. The writing is the movie’s biggest drawback, along with the routine story and cliched narration.

Highlights?

Title Song
Climax Block (Sans Drama)
Production Values

Drawbacks?

Routine Story
Writing
Cliched Characters And Drama
No Surprise Elements, No highs
Outdated Vibe

Alternative Take

A more refreshed take be it the love story or the mother-son conflict, and more amped out drama (with a few tweaks) during the sports segments would have made Ghani a lot better than what it is currently.

Did I Enjoy It?

No

Will You Recommend It?

Yes, But With Huge Reservations

Ghani Movie Review by M9News