Review: Neeku Naaku - a sense of deja vu

Hyderabad: First things first, director Teja is known to be master craftsmen when it comes to filming love pair, who are on the run. The good thing is that Teja is back to his old school and the bad thing is it is the same.

The film has excessive shades of his earlier venture 'Jayam' in most parts. Recent Tamil outings, 'Myna' (Prema Khaidi) and 'Angadi Theru' (Shopping Mall) too have heavily influenced the director.

Shiva (Prince) and Gayathri (Nandita) are forced to work for Bapineedu (Chowdary) who runs a liquor syndicate. Shiva is outright and innocent. He even asks Bapineedu to give the broker who bought him to work at his place Rs 14,000 so that he can keep only Rs 1000 to repay the money he owes to a loan shark. Gayathri, on the other hand, is smart and lively.

She falls for his nature and goads him to love her, which he eventually does. In an unexpected twist of events, Shiva happens to tell about Nagendra's (his colleague) possession of money to Bapineedu, who kills the latter in front of every worker of the illegal liquor factory assuming that he stole the profits of the work that he's associated with.

Shiva later realises that Nagendra earned money on his own and he is saving it for his sister's impending marriage. Shiva understands the gravity of his slip-up and tries to make up for it by arranging the money for Nagendra's sister's marriage.

And in the meantime, Chittithalli (Teertha), concubine of Bapineedu, comes to know that Gayathri is pregnant and she tortures her to reveal her who the culprit is. Shiva saves her and both flee the place before stealing Bapineedu's money. What transpires is the rest of the story.

Teja clearly knows his limitations and to bring the novelty factor, he chooses the backdrop of Araku valley and a fresh pair. He succeeds in making the lead pair to perform and presenting the desired look for the film but fails in the story department which is cliched all the way.

Chases, Teertha's skin show, songs in the forests and comedy sequences of antagonist's gang... sorry Mr Teja, we've seen your 'Jayam' too many times to forget its story and execution.

While the first half is enjoyable, thanks largely to Toofan (Suman Shetty), the second half is highly predicatable. A dialogue or so in the second half and Apakura' song, will take you back to 'Jayam' again.

While the concerned dialogue is on the lines where Sada tells Nitin that he should fight Gopichand, the song, is a rip off of Priyathama thelusuna. The only difference is that in 'Jayam's case they both are executed to fine perfection. Expecting the climax to at least bail you out-of-the-cliched box, it turns out to be a damp squib.

Prince comes out with a decent performance conisdering it is his debut. Nandita excels in her role and for a change, she is a girl minus the oomph factor.

Teja's discoveries, Venu and Suman shetty, fill the entertainment space and the former brings the house down in a sequence where he is assumed to have eaten a banana which is hooked with a memory chip. Chowdary and Banerjee do justice to their roles while Paruchuri Venkateshwara Rao scores with his outing. Teertha too leaves an impact.

Rounding up, 'Neeku Naaku Dash Dash' looks like Teja's desperate attempt to get back to winning ways in Tollywood which is a pity considering that he is a maker who is a powerhouse of talent apart from valuing the sensibilities of audience. A medoicre fare which has its moments but fails to hit what it aimed at.