'Prema Kavali' Review: Commendable Debut

Rating: 3/5Banner: Max India Productions
Cast: Aadi, Isha Chawla, Brahmanandam, Dev Gill, Sindhu Tolani, Naga Babu, Jayasudha and others
Music: Anup Rubens
Cinematography: Chota K Naidu
Editing: Goutham Raju
Story, screenplay, direction: K Vijayabhaskar
Producer: K Atchi Reddy 
Release date: 25/02/2011

‘Dialogue King’ Sai Kumar is a tense father as his son Aadi is making his debut in cinema today. It is also a comeback of sorts for veteran director K Vijayabhaskar. Let us see what both of them have been upto

Story: Prema (Isha) is the darling daughter of a honest and strict police officer (Nasser) but she is currently being blackmailed by one person (Shafi). Prema’s tension catches the eye of her sister-in- law (Sindhu Tolani) and this reveals a flashback. The story is about Srinu (Aadi), Prema’s classmate and his love for her. However, Prema doesn’t respond to his love feelings but becomes friends with him. But an unexpected situation makes her hate Srinu and that becomes the cause of her worries. What is that situation? Is Srinu successful in his love story? All this forms the rest of the story.

Performances: Aadi has made a confident debut. He has built a sturdy physique, nice dance moves, expressive body language and above all, a voice and facial countenance that reminds his father. Overall, he came up with a good job. But instead of heavy build body, he would have concentrated on lean muscle built to get a romantic look. Aadi needs to concentrate on bringing depth in emotions from his second film onwards. On a whole, he passed the debut test without any hassles.

Isha Chawla will strike a chord with the youth audience. She is beautiful, has an adorable smile, an innocent sex appeal that makes her desirable. If she can polish few of her expressions then she has strong potential.

Dev Gill has that mean look but his role was brief. Shafi is a talent whose abilities must be challenged further. Supreeth has good screen presence but then his role was minimal. 

Brahmanandam and M S Narayana gave hilarious moments, their sense of timing and their screen chemistry was excellent. Ali gave his own share of laughs. Sindhu Tolani was decent, Nasser was matured as usual. Naga Babu and Jayasudha gave guest appearances. 

Highlights:

• Aadi’s ease in performance
• Isha Chawla’s glamour (don’t miss her wet song)
• Brahmi- M S Narayana comedy sequences
• Cinematography
• CG Effects
• Locations for songs and picturization

Setbacks:

• No great gripping romantic moments
• Two scenes in second half got dragged
• Dev Gill’s character should have got more strength and power

Analysis: More than the story it is the narration which plays a crucial role for any film and that’s where experienced directors like Vijayabhaskar make their mark.

Here, there was nothing special in the story but it was his screenplay and the right proportion of comedy, romance, emotions which gave a fresh look.

He was well supported by strong technicians and rich production values. Though there may not be very touching romantic moments, the film passes off without creating much dilemma.

At the box office, this will appeal to the college and youth audience. This looks like an attempt to show Aadi as an actor who can dance, fight and romance since he is looking ahead for portraying mass masala hero roles.

Bottomline: Good for time pass