Dookudu Review

1:a personal magic of leadership arousing special popular loyalty or enthusiasm for a public figure (as a political leader)2: a special magnetic charm or appeal charisma of a popular actor>

The above mentioned is the definition for ‘Charisma’. The second one would perfectly imply anybody who has ‘it’ in the entertainment industry. The purpose of taking the readers through the dictionary definitions of Charisma, is that I saw it with my own eyes yesterday

For long this man has been called a passive actor and a performer suited only for intense roles as his face takes that little bit longer, to register a happy expression. He had a life defining hit in 2006 which bought a lot of unwanted attention. The pressure to deliver a colossal hit grew with every film, that he acted in. It, in fact was so overbearing that he stayed away from the turnstiles for three years

Then when he came back from the self-imposed exile, people questioned his choice of the comeback vehicle. Though the movie was criticised, it was that movie that provided the glimpse of the clout that his film can hold over the audiences. Nearly a year after its release, it is talked about more often than the movie, it lost out to in the box office race- Brindavanam

It was back to square one for him as he had to depend on a tried and tested product to continue his comeback. It was during this phase that he chose a man who bases all his scripts on the ‘entertainment quotient’. The effort of the combination of these two, is what we have in front of our eyes today

So what basically works for the movie? The lead actor occupying 95% of the run time of the movie worked out. That the man can hold his own despite the above mentioned shortcomings(?) is a testimony to his charisma. Sitting away from ‘multiplex’ and in a normal single screen, you will totally register the impact of the sway that he holds on the audience

With a full theatre swooning for him, you are also tempted to shout for him at the top of your voice. You do that as he explodes from his entry scene, with a multitude of one-liners. His episode with the heroine will bring the roof down with, what the socially aware reviewers are calling chauvinism

You can’t blame him for not deviating from the ‘tried and tested’ as we have seen a lot of directors dish out mediocrity in the name of intelligent cinema. So credit to him, that he trusts himself in the hands of the director

He has been ably aided by the director’s team namely, Brahmanandam and MS Narayana. Song picturisation does leave a tad of sour aftertaste but ‘Poovai Poovai’ makes up for all of it

The man needs to be taken to every city and town where the movie is running to full houses and be made aware of the charisma he wields. Perhaps that would make him come out of the snailish pace at which his pictures are shot

Till the next movie of his releases, we have this. And if you have not yet realised that it was Mahesh Babu that I was talking about then here goes the introduction. His name is Mahesh Babu

(Narration style of the feature has been borrowed from one of Mahesh Babu’s earlier movies- Arjun)