Nandamuri Balakrishna is on a roll by scoring a hat-trick of 100 Crores grossers. He came as 'Daaku Maharaaj' with director Bobby Kolli. Suryadevara Naga Vamsi has benktolled the film under his Sithara Entertainments banner along with Srikara Cinemas and Fortune Four Cinemas. The film has created a buzz with its release trailer and posters. Daaku Maharaaj hit the screens on 12th January for Sankranthi. Let's delve into a detailed review.
Daaku Maharaaj film opens with a stylishly shot action sequence, introducing Nanaji / Maharaaj / Seetharam (Nandamuri Balakrishna) in a deep forest. The story then shifts to a local family, whose granddaughter Vaishnavi crosses paths with animal poachers, putting her family in danger. Nanaji comes to their rescue, but with an ulterior motive revealed during the interval. The second half explores Maharaaj's backstory, showcasing his transformation from an honest civil engineer Seetharam to a vigilante. How Bobby Deol, Pragya Jaiswal and Shraddha Srinath fit into the narrative forms the story.
Nandamuri Balakrishna delivers a trademark ferocious performance, showcasing his composed and subtle side in the first half. Balakrishna who is known for his high voltage performance has maintained calm during the first half and he did that part effortlessly. He played characters with different shades and did it with elan.
Bobby Deol enters as the menacing villain, while Pragya Jaiswal plays the usual wife role. Shraddha Srinath's character adds importance and depth to the story, and Urvashi Rautela provides a glamour dose in a song.
Shine Tom Chacko and Ravi Kishan were introduced and took time to establish their characters. But, they were hardly seen in the second half. Others like Sachin Khedkar, Chandini Chowdary, Makarand Deshpandey, Ravi Kaale, Divi, Sathya, Sandeep Raaj and Jeevan did their roles accordingly.
Daaku Maharaaj directed by Bobby is a stylishly made action-packed entertainer that boasts top-notch technicalities and cleverly blended Balayya mark elements. However, despite its brand-new presentation, the plot follows a familiar formulaic template. Even though the film has child sentiment and emotions, which can be appealed to family audiences. Song with Urvashi Rautela and a hospital scene with lady doctor feels like hurdles with obscene content.
The first half is a decent building suspense about Daaku Maharaaj's character simultaneously elevating Hero's character. After a power packed and brilliantly shot interval where the director draws parallels between protagonist and antagonist, the second half too opens with flash back in an interesting manner. But, since then the story goes into a predictable manner with flat narration. Though there is a twist during the climax, it was too late to get impressed by it.
Thaman's background score is thumping, elevating the action sequences to a whole new level. Vijay Kannan's cinematography gives the film a fresh and stylish look. Bobby's direction succeeds in presenting Balayya in a new dimension, but could have added more twists and intrigue.
Altogether, 'Daaku Maharaaj' is a stylishly made action film with Balakrishna mark mass moments, but suffers from a predictable narrative. Especially the first half and the second half seemed like different movies which affected the outcome of the movie. The film's technical aspects are its strongest suit, but the predictable story and lack of twists hold it back from being a truly memorable action film., Cinejosh goes with a 2.75 rating for Daaku Maharaaj.