Review: Kandireega leaves a sweet sting

Kandireega is an unpretentious film about whom it's targeted at. The film's basic plot has been tried and tested so many times that it's almost impossible to go wrong with a decent set of actors. Santosh Srinivas, the director of the film, has done a commendable job especially for a debut film.

Kandireega maybe old wine in new bottle, but it retains the punch of what a neatly packaged, so called mass entertainer, can achieve. The film opens in Anakapalli where people are vexed with Srinu's (Ram) antics. He lands in Hyderabad to continue his studies and falls in love with Shruti (Hansika).

However, students are scared of Shruti because Bhavani (Sonu Sood), city's most powerful don is in love with her. Elsewhere, there's another gang searching for Srinu. In an interesting turn of events, Srinu, Shruti and Bhavani end up in the house of Warangal Rajanna (Jayaprakash Reddy). Rajanna's daughter, Sandhya (Aksha) is in love with Srinu. What follows next is a comedy of errors.

Ram packs a punch with his energy in the film. Be it fights, dances or dialogues, he dazzles on screen. It does seem to be little over the top to see him kick so many goons single handedly, but the film's breakneck speed and energy doesn't give time to brood over such 'trivial' issues.

Kandireega isn't all about Ram. In fact, for most part of second half, Sonu Sood and Aksha steal the show. The best scene in the film which brings the house down involves Sonu Sood expressing his happiness after he confesses his love. It is moments like these which make the second half of the film a thoroughly enjoyable ride.

Aksha is a revelation in the film and full credit to the director and Aksha's dubbing artist for the Telangana accent. Jayprakash Reddy is at his best once again. Hansika has nothing much to offer in the film and gets completely overshadowed by the rest of the pack. The film does have its share of issues.

It's too long, the first half is too many fights and there are too many villains and goons in the film. The plot itself goes haywire and on the whole the film's loud on the ears. However, that's been the case with most masala potboilers. The second half of the film has almost no connection with the first half and seems to be heavily inspired from Ram's earlier film Ready.

Yet, Kandireega is a well-packaged entertainer which presses every possible button to impress the viewer. Thaman's music is loud; however, the cinematographer, editor and Santosh Srinivas who wrote the dialogues do a good job. The film is not great by any standard but it's likely to make a lot of buzz thanks to its tag of an entertainer. Watch it for Ram, Sonu Sood and Aksha. Kandireega is the best bet this weekend.