Varma’s ‘Officer’ Fails to ‘Arrest’ Attention
QUICK SCAN
Rating: 2.25/5
First Impression:
It’s a RGV plot which has nothing to do with story. A senior cop, Psnsari, who himself runs a underworld gang is entrusted to liquidate it. A young officer, Shivaji Rao(Nagarjuna), risking the lives of his colleagues, daughter and his own finally checkmates him. RGV keeps on raising the tension finally to reach nothing.
Plus points:
- Nagarjun’s handsome looks
- Unpredictable ‘what-will-happen-next’ screen play
- Power-packed action scenes
Pitfalls:
- Nagarjuna ,though looks fit and young, has little to play
- The actor, who plays main villain, gets locked in just one expression through out the movie
- Myra Sareen looks neither true lover, nor a never-leaving seductress.
- Using a kid (Baby Kavya) to create tension although the movie is a futile exercise
- All action and no story
- Untimely and poor climax
- Nothing is left to show after climax
WHO'S WHO Directed by: Ram Gopal Varma Screenplay by: Ram Gopal Varma Story by: Ram Gopal Varma Starring: Nagarjuna Akkineni, Myra Sareen, Feroz Abbasi, Sayaji Shinde,Ajay,Baby Kaavya Music by: Ravi Shankar Cinematography: Bharat Vyas N.Rahul Penumatsa Edited by: Anwar Ali,R. Kamal Production company: R Company Production Release date:1 June 2018
Plot: Cop Plays Don
A cop who claims he has decimated all underworld gangs in Mumbai himself plays the role of underworld don. A sincere cop(Nagarjuna) nabs him finally.
Story: Good Cop Versus Bad Cop
Shivaji Rao, an IPS officer, (Nagarjuna) comes to Mumbai as the in-charge of Special Investigation Team(SIT) to probe into the excesses of Narayana Pansari, a senior cop, who has good reputation in the department for liquidating all underworld dons. Nagarjuna establishes his nexus with the underworld and arrests him. Pansari comes clean of the charges as the prime witness dies. The SIT gets dissolved as it fails to establish the charges and Nagarjuna is inducted in crime branch. Later, Pansari, himself turns into don in guise , indiscriminately kills people and continues to be the cop. To stop killing the government forms a team under Pansari’s supervistion. He wontedly takes Nagarjuna into his team. The rest of the story moves around Nagarjuana’s efforts to prove Pansari is the culprit.
Treatment: Kid as Soft Target
A sincere cop, whose wife is killed in bomb blast, is left with a daughter to care for and officer’s job to live on. As the villain finds the little girl as his soft target, the chases cause tension. RGB tries this tension as the gluing element to keep the audience to stick to their seats. His effort doesn’t bear fruits. This turns out to be counter- productive as the tension is in no way connected to the plot.
Screen play: Only in First Half
Perpahs, this could be the only reason, that the boredom is taken away at least in the first half of the movie. Undoubtedly screen play is brisk in the first half
Lead Role : Nagarjuna has little to Play
Nagarjuna, who looks handsome and fit, tries to perform his part. But the heros’ role is not fully evolved in the movie. The entire movie is villain-centric. But tragically, the artiste selected for this role couldn’t deliver anything, except confining to one mock-serious expression.
Others in Cast: Myra Sareen fails as Seductress
Mrya Sareen, whe herself is a cop too and a divorcee, tries to enchant Nagarjuna and seduct him. She has confused looks that fall between a lover and a seductress.
Dialogues: Routine , Redundant
Most of the dialogues are routine and redundant. Even the characters with idiosyncrasies, such as Bhajarangi, don’t have anything to speak differently.
Cinematography: No RGV Mark
RGV’s mark of visualisation is less felt in the movie. No scene gets registered barring the illuminated look of Mumbai City.
Music: No Impact
Music doesn’t give any heartthrob excepting the arrest scene of Pansari by Nagarjuna.
Bottom line:
No one will come with the feel of watching a full movie. The second half delivers nothing. The much-acclaimed Nag-RGV combination of Siva or Govinda Govinda is not at all felt.
