Pantham Review – A Wasted Cause

BOTTOM LINE
A Wasted Cause

OUR RATING
2.25/5

CENSOR
‘U/A’ Certified, 2 hrs 02 mins

What Is the Film About?
A series of robberies happen targeting specific individuals. Why are they done and what is the final outcome? Why are ministers from the government the targeted people? Are they all connected?

How Is Gopichand’s Performance?
Gopichand is back to doing what he does best in Pantham. He plays his role with ease as it is bread and butter for him. Regarding a memorable scene or moment, it comes during the climax court room sequence. Although, that too is nothing out of the world, it is the best out there. The biggest positive for Gopichand in the movie is his overall look, he has been presented really well.

Direction by K. Chakravarthy Reddy?
K Chakravarthy has taken a typical predictable commercial potboiler with a message route for his debut. It is the kind of film we have seen Ravi Teja do few years back and were among his big successes. So, the idea and content is right for a mass hero.

Unfortunately, Chakravarthy fails is making a cohesive engaging narrative. The movie looks fine in parts and is also overall passable but there are vast stretches that are tiring and very predictable. But more than that they are executed weakly. The interest in the proceedings is missing and that falls flatly on the director’s shoulders.

The first half of the movie begins with an interesting and neatly executed opening block. Following it, the train robbery and the interval is nice. But the romance track and comedy in between looks half cooked and uninterestingly inserted. A lot of it has to do with bad editing and the accompanying background score. The love portions kills the flow totally.

The same problem continues in the second half but here interesting blocks come quicker compared to the first half. The additional issue here is the flat narrative. Just when one gets engaged to the narrative, it feels like the climax has started.

The climax block is well done for the most part. Three-fourths of it is good. Again, like everything else the whole thing is concluded in a very simplistic manner that comes across as silly. On the whole, Pantham has its moments, albiter limited. It could have been otherwise with better editing and direction. Overall, a below average fare that is aimed for the masses.

Mehreen Kaur and Others?
Mehreen has one of the worst roles for a heroine in recent times in Telugu cinema. She plays a character that is entirely unrelated to the main plot. In the past, citing similar reasons her part was totally edited post release of a movie, the same can be done here. Sampath does his usual over the portrayal of a villain character. Mukesh Rishi is wasted. Prudhvi has few gags that work out. Srinivas Reddy is alright and so is Prabhas Sreenu.

Music and Other Departments?
Pantham is one of the weakest outings of music director Gopi Sundar. Neither the songs nor the background score make an impact. The cinematography is decent. The editing of the movie is bad. The dialogues should have been a lot better.

Highlights?
Basic plot
Climax
Few action parts

Drawbacks?
Weak direction
Editing
Music & BGM
Love track

Alternative Take
A film like Power should be an idea template for an alternative take. Pantham with similar engaging narrative would have had much bigger impact for the masses

Did I Enjoy It?
In parts

Will You Recommend It?
With huge reservations for mass movie lovers

Pantham Review by Siddartha