Sudheer Babu who failed to set the screens on fire in 2022 with the romantic entertainer Aa Ammayi Gurinchi Meeku Cheppali, changed track and is testing his luck with an action flick Hunt. The film directed by Mahesh Surapanani is releasing on 26 January 2023. The film's first look, teaser, and trailer got a good response. The film is the official remake of the 2013 Malayalam film Mumbai Police starring Prithviraj Sukumaran in the lead role under the direction of Rosshan Andrrews. Hunt OTT rights are yet to be bagged and streaming will be announced in the coming days. Let us see what Sudheer Babu offered with HUNT to movie lovers.
Hunt's story is a psychological action thriller and is all about an ACP who solves a murder case despite suffering memory loss due to an accident during the investigation. ACP Arjun Prasad ( Sudheer Babu) takes over the investigation of the assassination of Assistant Commissioner Aryan Dev ( Bharat) when he was receiving the President's Medal. But a fatal accident results in Arjun Prasad suffering memory loss. The connection between Arjun Prasad (Sudheer Babu), Commissioner of Police Mohan Bhargav (Srikanth), his subordinate Shakti (Mounika Reddy, Aryan's girlfriend Nivetha (Chitra Shukla), Colonel Vikram Singh (Kabir Duhan Singh) and auto-driver turned sharp shooter (Mime Gopi), Where this leads to, who is behind the murder of the police officer and whether anyone behind Arjun Prasad's accident, and whether he is able to solve the case is the plot of Hunt.
Sudheer Babu tried his best in the role of the cop. However, the characterization is passive and weak and he did not get any opportunity to showcase his heroism. That's the reason, he or the director must have forcibly included silly army and police fights or the terrorist angle showing Kashmir. The scenes involving the Kashmir episode looked childish to the core and looked like Sudheer Babu playing a video game with the dreaded terrorists. Sudheer Babu must have got excited with the gay angle in the film but that itself puts off all his fans and movie lovers.
Sudheer Babu should concentrate on his dialogue delivery and improving his emotions rather than trying to flaunt his six-pack abs even for the silliest reason though the scene and the situation do not demand. Sudheer Babu in this film is just ok and day by day his judgment skills are deteriorating. Had his judgment been fine, he wouldn't have signed the project in the first place.
Srikanth is ok in his role as a commissioner. He showed good emotions. Bharath performed his role well but his looks are not that appealing and the character did not give him any scope to show his talent. Mime Gopi and Kabir Duhan Singh played their roles accordingly. Chitra Shukla and Monika Reddy did not get any chance to show their talent. Others performed according to their roles.
Hunt's story selected by Mahesh Surapaneni on debut happened to be the remake of the Malayalam film Mumbai Police which was released in 2013. The original starred Prithviraj Sukumaran in the lead. There is no surprise element in the story and the narration starts in a normal manner with ACP suffering memory loss due to an accident and then trying to resolve the case he already solved before he met with the accident. Only in the final stages, the twist is revealed.
Though the decision to reveal the twist in the pre-climax is appreciable, the narration till then turned out to be bland. There is nothing in the story as it has a small point and as the story progress, narration deviates from one to another and in between repetitive scenes creep in, in the form of pub and bar scenes and drinking and party scenes which are unnecessary. Mahesh Surapanenni seems to have been passing time till the climax to reveal the twist.
In the process, the screenplay looked silly and it looks confusing when the ACP is seen investigating the scenes after suffering the accident. The to-and-fro narration, makes people wonder how did Sudheer Babu recover so quickly, only to realize that that was the flashback scene. The scenes in the run-up to the climax looked silly, ordinary, and amateurish. The fight between police and army personnel in fact looked like belittling the army. Instead, all those who were shown as army people looked like roadside thugs. Mahesh Surapaneni's direction did not inspire any confidence. On top of it, he failed to get the optimum out of his cast and crew.
Ghibran's music did not impress. None of the songs are appealing. His background music failed to elevate the scenes. Seems Ghibran did not work on the project with a full heart. He just passed through the motions and the output looked below average. Even a serial's score would have been better than the BGM for this project.
Dialogues are ok but not impactful. Arul Vincent's cinematography is just average. The scenes looked just ordinary. Pravin Pudi's editing is ok. He did not leave any lags. Production values of Bhavya Creations are not up to the standards.
Altogether, HUNT starring Sudheer Babu and directed by Mahesh Surapaneni turned out to be a mediocre product. This makes movie lovers wonder how Sudheer Babu who is impressed in films like Prema Katha Chitram and Sammohanam, is selecting such ridiculous and pathetic stories. Sudheer Babu said that Hunt is his tribute to his father-in-law Super Star Krishna. He said no one tried such a role in Tollywood. That is true because no one would have ever thought of starring in such a terrible project. Right from the start to finish, Hunt is a horrible project with its story, screenplay, and direction. Considering all these points, Cinejosh goes with a 1 rating for Hunt.