Andhra Pradesh

Keeping up family tradition

Impressive debut: Sushant in a still from the film ‘Kalidasu’.

Film: Kalidasu (Telugu)

Cast: Sushant, Tamanna

Direction: Ravicharan Reddy

Sushant is Nagarjuna’s nephew and Kalidasu is his debut film. If the director had kept this point in mind before setting out to direct a young and a raw man willing to get moulded, this film would have ended as mediocre stuffOne can watch the film to see how Sushant fares. Undoubtedly he shows ease in his dances and fights. The story has a gruesome but an interesting prelude but after that it refuses to enthuse audiences. The revelation just before the interval that Sushant’s friend and Tamanna have something going between them is the only reason why you’d want to stay back to find out the rest of the story.

There are too many plots in the story and you’d know where you are heading only when Tanikella Bharani defines the story as a battle by the uneducated for education. Sunil, who acts as a sidekick for most senior actors, doesn’t suit as a friend to Sushant. Jayasudha is simple and beautiful and her looks defy her age. Naga Babu and Surekha Vani shine in their brief roles. Ravi Babu with his thick moustache and not so funny dialogues is irritating and the prolonged discussions on cars in the first half of the film tests one’s patience.

The characters are not developed properly and you don’t empathise with them, for example Ajay bangs the maid’s forehead onto the wall and while she bleeds, Tamanna stops him and says a plain sorry to her while you wonder at her shallow behaviour, ditto when Sunil dies. Also the playful dialogues between Jayasudha and Sushant are superficial. Nikita sizzles in an item number . This is probably not the right film for Sushant but he takes a bow with confidence.

Y. SUNITA CHOWDHARY

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