BOTTOM LINE
Half Film Empty
OUR RATING
2.5/5
CENSOR
‘U’ Certified, 2 hrs 07 mins
What is the film Shamanthakamani about?
A costly 5 Cr car Shamantakamani is stolen. Who stole the car and why, is what the film is all about?
How is Sudheer Babu’s performance?
Sudheer Babu plays the given character well without overdoing it too much. He is the one who actually has serious issue and is emotionally connected to the main plot. He even gets one big emotional scene but he doesn’t get the required output as his voice fails him.
Direction By Sriram Aditya?
Sriram Adithya made a confident debut with Bhale Manchi Roju. In his second attempt he maintains the same confidence but misses out on content, especially in the first half.
The movie begins on an interesting note with the narration jumping straight to the point, the Shamantakamani is stolen. What’s next? The answer to this question comes only during the second half and even here logic goes for a toss. But more in that later the first half is simply a big set up or rather a build up to one big party sequence where all characters converge. The whole process is dragging and leaves one frustrated at the interval mark. There is nothing in terms of story progress.
The second half after that disappointing first half is a clear progress in terms of narrative. After all we get into the answers of questions that started at the very beginning. It gets better as we progress further in the second half with the best part being the climax. It is nothing out of ordinary but everything gets rounded up very neatly. Overall, thanks to the decent second half one gets fairly satisfied in the end. However, there is a tingling feeling of how much more it could have been.
Nara Rohit, Sundeep, Aadi and others?
There are no other artists in the movie, everyone is well known popular actor among small films. Sundeep Kishan, Aadi, and Nara Rohit, they all get good characters. What’s even better is they all have a scene that is completely on them to make a mark. Among all of them, Nara Rohit shines the best during the interrogation scenes in second half. Sundeep Kishan too is good during that part. Aadi has better first half part compared to the second. Among the rest Satyam Rajesh is wasted. Suman is perfect but his dubbing is distracting.
Music and other departments?
Music by Mani Sharma is mostly about background score and its terrific. The cinematography is good. Editing could have been sharper. Dialogues are superb.
Highlights?
Dialogues
Casting
Climax
Drawbacks?
Lacks cohesive narrative
First Half
Weak story
Alternative Take
The first half of the film needed more meat. Few intertwined twists in first half leading to the interval point would have made it engaging and provided solid base for second half.
Did I enjoy it?
In parts
Will you recommend it?
With huge reservations
Shamantakamani Review by Siddartha Toleti
