Behind the Movie Genius: TV Anchor Omkar has turned into Director with this Chinni Krishna's story which has Paruchuri Bros penned the dialogues. Havish who shot to fame with 'Nuvvvila' is seen as hero while Sanusha of 'Bangaram' is the heroine. Let us see, how far Omkar stood as a genius in making this project?
In the Movie Genius: Nivas (Havish), Yasir (Ashwin) and Shiva (Vinod) are childhood friends. While Nivas loves a cute Siri (Sanusha), Shiva is loved by Simran (Abhinaya), sister of Yasir. Confusions begin among audience when, Nivas and his father Simhadri (Suman) are attacked by the goons of local MLA Nanaji (Pradeep Rawat). Into the next fold, Yasir is a Fan to cricketer Nizamuddin (Adarsh) who is in CBI custody on match fixing allegations while Shiva is hardcore Fan to cinema hero Pedda Babu (Ashish Vidyarthi) and his son Chinna Babu (Master Bharath).
Story gets much more confused when Yasir is killed, Nizamuddin is kidnapped and Shiva is killed, Pedda Babu is kidnapped from the 100 days movie function of Chinna Babu. Home Minister JP (Jayaprakash Reddy) ropes in Police Officer Sharath Chandra (Sharath Kumar) to solve this kidnapping mystery. Just before interval, even Nivas attempts to kill Nanaji but gets caught by Sharath Chandra. Into the live interrogation, Nivas narrates the flashback on how his weaknesses towards politics, Shiva's craze towards Pedda Babu and Yasir's admiration for Nizamuddin spoiled their lives. What kind of a lesson does they want to teach their mentors form the rest.
Values of the Movie Genius: Into the very first attempt as a director, Omkar picked a meaningful and message orineted storyline (do not indulge in human worship) of Chinni Krishna which requires strong conviction in narration. Screenplay of Vissu was the main culprit which ruined the actual flavor. However, Omkar tried to project himself as a star commercial director who can handle the depth in emotions. But, he could not deliver the goods. Dialogues by Paruchuri Brothers were good in second half. Cinematography by Diwakaran Raghunath was apt with mass masala touch. MR Varma's editing could have been far better in first half. Dileep Subbarayan's stunts composition was good. Music by Joshua Sridhar was noisy. Production values of Dasari Kiran Kumar and Ramadoota Creations were really good.
Performance wise Havish could not emote any expression with a crude face. He needs to undergo rigorous training to evolve as a better artist. Sanusha was pretty. Ashwin, Vinod did their parts well. Sharath Kumar was crisp and powerful. Suman, Chandramohan, Kota, Annapoorna, Abhinaya, Thaagubothu Ramesh were good as family members to the lead three. Pradeep Rawat's villainy is routine. Adarsh, Ashish Vidyarthi, Master Bharath, Jayaprakash Reddy were also okay. Brahmi's silly acts as participant in Aata 7 were not needed for this story.
Out of the Movie Genius: Those who have doubts on Omkar's abilities as a movie director would remain confused with same doubts because he was neither a complete failure nor a complete winner with this film. Thanks to Chinni Krishna's storyline which has strength in it but dud not find the right support from screenplay writer Vissu and director Omkar. The boring execution in first half with confusing sub plots and seperate comedy track of Brahmanandam were disappointing from Omkar. Into the second half, real story picks up and the exact message comes to fore. Havish was far better here. Into pre-climax and climax, there is plenty of action which bored again.
However, Omkar's confidence has exceeded the needed limits while his handling of emotions in crucial scenes still needs to be polished. With such a high budget and purposeful storyline, definitely 'Genius' could have been a useful project at BO. It is surely, Omkar's inexperience which killed the essence in Chinni's story. Commercial success of 'Genius' is doubtful.
Cinejosh Review of the Movie Genius: Better Execution Could Have Made Omkar, a Cinema Genius.
Reviewed by Srivaas