There are films that leave a lasting impression, there are other films which will occupy space in your mind for a few hours and there are those which will put you to sleep instantly, leaving you puzzled about what exactly happened in the previous scene. Touch chesi chudu belongs to the last category without a doubt.
Director: Vikram Sirikonda
Cast: Ravi Teja, Raashi Khanna, Seerat Kapoor, Stayma Rajesh, Vennela Kishore, Suhasini
There was a time, when people used to walk out chortling, after watching 'Mass Maharaja' Ravi Teja on screen but this time, they will likely only come away bemused. Although his patent dialogue delivery style and dance moves are intact, the story is too tawdry to be saved by his charm.
Karthikeya (Ravi Teja), living with his Hum Saath Saath Hai family in Puducherry, is a businessman and an evangelist of family values and affection. This too-good-to-be-true boy goes to Pushpa's (Raashi Khanna) house with his family as part of the ‘bride-seeing’ event. He is so vehemently honest that he calls her an aunty and asks her to accept the proposal, for she is already at the tangent of 'marriageable age'. Of course, she rejects him. Later she, bafflingly, falls suddenly in love with him. This no-nonsense boy encounters an unpleasant corrupt cop, who is, of course, the villain. In an unwieldy fight sequel, he kills the goon and says 'game over', leaving you wondering how the villan can be killed before the interval. Then you will realise there is a bhai. But of course! There cant be a film without a bhai hatching all the plans. His sister finds this bhai murdering another honest activist and decides to be the witness to the police. Of course, the brother calls it social responsibility and encourages her to go ahead. She spots him, he chases him and then…Bang! It's interval.
Comedian Satyam Rajesh is a close confidant of Ravi Teja and they collaboratively put in efforts to produce some wisecracks, which ends up being an epic fail. The only good part of the first half is enjoying the beauty of serene and colourful pockets of Puducherry.
The second half is all about Irfan (Bhai), his dad and Ravi Teja as a cop. Yes, the second half is entirely about his past as a sincere cop, who is a pro at resolving pending cases. "Pending case ki ending istha," his signature dialogue is all about how he resolves all the unfinished cases in the space of just one song. Isn’t that amazing?
Like most of the Telugu films, the heroines have no concrete role but confine themselves to being glamorous barbies, acting cute and falling head-over-heels for the hero. Although Ravi Teja’s age is evident from his face, his energy levels and style quotient try to mask the fact. By the way, they have followed the new fad of having a good looking antagonist.
Pritam Chakraborty’s music scores more marks than the direction, screenplay and dialogues. If there is one thing this film might be useful for, it's maybe to help us master the art of not falling asleep in the face of terrible boredom. But if you do doze off for a few minutes, don’t fret. You will likely wake up to the same scene, thanks to ultra slow-moving plot.