Review: Poor narration lets down Sreemannarayana

Sreemannarayana (Balakrishna), an investigative journalist, who unearths a big scam to do justice to jawans (read Adarsh scam) ends up antagonising people behind the scam- Harshad Kotari (Suresh), minister Byle Reddy (Jayaprakash Reddy) and Pulikeshava Reddy (Supreeth). Byle Reddy loses his portfolio (Sonia Gandhi made a certain CM to do the same). They plot a plan to kill Sree.

Meanwhile, Sree's father is a social activist Narayanamurthy (Vijay Kumar), always associated with the welfare of farmers. He starts Jai Kisan Trust which gets huge response and deposits mount up to Rs 5,000 crore.

Posing as nice guys, bank officer Rajan (Kota), IG Marthand (Rao Ramesh) and Doctor Sreekar Prasad (Nagineedu) kill Murthy and amass the huge money.

A clear plan is plotted by Harshad in a way that Sree is not around his father when he's needed the most, thereby creating a doubt that Sree is the one is absconding with the money.

He was jailed. But will he be able to get the money back from the wrongdoers and will he carry forward his father's legacy from jail ' this forms the rest of the story.

Being set in the contemporary times when media is at full-force is one of the positives of the film. Biggest undoing is the worn out treatment.

There's a rule that if you are making a tried and tested revenge formula, give something new to the audience with your narration, but Ravi Chavali fails in this department miserably.

Songs, comedy and action sequences are outdated and no wonder they play a spoilsport here. Fashion goes haywire in songs as the outfits to the lead cast appear a mismatch to a great degree and it's for the costume designers vested interest that he/she goes back to learn basics.

A Balakrishna's film is not short of powerful dialogues and writer Ghatikachalam does a commendable job. Baadataniki biodata endhukura, chaavuki centimetre dhooramlo nuvvunnav sentiment ki kilometre dhooramlo nenunnanu' malli na eyeball ki thagilithe football adukuntanu are some that evoke maximum response.

And there are dialogues against CBI pointing out their shortcomings in Satyam and 2G scams going with his political image. But dialogues alone don't make a film, right?

Chavali's expertise is only visible with the way he conceived a scene where Sree masks as Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy to kill IG Marthand.

Performance wise, Balakrishna was showcased more of as a guy who is out to avenge his father's death and the stashed money than the journalist, hence the novelty goes missing and it shows on his performance which appears to be repetitive.

Give him roles filled with emotion, he shines but when he's a given a role that he had never attempted before, the director comes into play which isn't the case here. Parvati Melton doesn't look at ease when it comes to acting. Isha Chawla shines, despite gaining some kilos.

Kota, Jayaprakash Reddy, Suresh, Supreeth, Nagineedu and Rao Ramesh have been there and done it before. Duvvasi Mohan with his one-liners provides the much needed comic relief amidst a monotonous show.

Summing up, 'Sreemannarayana' appears to be an attempt from Balayya and director Ravi to score in a season where pot-boilers in Tollywood and Bollywood are ruling the roost.

However, the material that is picked up here at the outset looks fresh, but goes the way that most Tollywood films went in the past. A case of old story in an old paperback!