Comedian Sapthagiri has been trying to break into the commercial cinema for a long time by adding the tried-and-tested elements for success in the genre — humour, action, and sentiment — in his films. After delivering average grossers like Sapthagiri Express and Sapthagiri LLB, he has once again resorted to the same formula in this week's release, Vajra Kavachadhara Govinda.
At a time when comedy heroes like Allari Naresh, Sunil, and Srinivas Reddy are struggling to redeem their careers, director Arun Pawar has tried to bring Sapthagiri to the forefront with this film. But with its wafer-thin storyline, it doesn’t offer anything to be excited about.
Cast: Saptagiri, Vaibhavi Joshi
Director: Arun Pawar
Vajra Kavachadhara Govinda revolves around Govind (Saptagiri), a petty thief, who is considered the sole saviour of his ‘cancer village’. He gets sucked into a treasure hunt with a gang. In a bid to get the treasure, he has to get into a temple by impressing the locals, and in the process, he meets Tripura Sundari (Vaibhavi Joshi), a tomboyish girl who likes kickboxing. As expected, they end up falling for each other.
The director takes forever to set up the plot and wastes too much time establishing the characters, thereby never allowing us to become invested in the narrative. Like most filmmakers these days, who treat the intermission as an excuse to shift gears completely, Arun Pawar too comes up with a twist, and this one actually looks quite promising. But, as the second half kicks in, you can't help feeling underwhelmed and a tad cheated too.
The elements that don’t work in Vajra Kavachadhara Govinda make up a long list — the jarring songs, the unrealistic approach to the premise of the story, the melodrama, the overall treatment, Saptagiri's heroism. These are all difficult to digest.
Saptagiri’s performance is too over-the-top. Vaibhavi Joshi makes good use of the limited screen time she gets. John Kottoly, Viren Thambidorai, Veda, and a motley crew of other supporting actors are reduced to stock caricatures.
Overall, Vajra Kavachadhara Govinda is a bland, boring 140-minute saga that is only unintentionally amusing at best.