Film: Bodyguard
Cast:
Venkatesh, Trisha, Saloni, Prakash Raj, Kota Srinivas Rao, Subbaraju,
Ali, Venumadhav, Dharmavarapu and others
Dialogues: Kona Venkat
Music: S S Taman
Cinematography: Sam K
Naidu
Editing: Gowtham Raju
Action: Ram Lakshman
Produced by:
Bellamkonda Suresh
Screenplay and directed by: Gopichand Malineni
Release
date: Jan 14, 2012
CBFC Rating: U/A
What’s it about!
Venkatadri aka Venky (Venkatesh) has immense
respect towards Varadarajula Naidu (Prakash Raj) as he is saved by the
Naidu from an accident years ago. Venky is now sent to be
Varadarajulanaidu’s bodyguard and Naidu in turn asks him to guard his
daughter Keerthi (Trisha) who is in danger from his rivals. Keerthi
studies in the city and stays with her friend Swathi (Saloni). Irritated
by Venky’s omnipresence in her life as bodyguard, Keerthi tries to
divert Venkatadri by calling him as an anonymous caller and soon they
fall in love with each other. But the story doesn’t end there.
Analysis
Bodyguard is remake of Malayalam movie by the same name and the film
has already been successfully made in two other languages - Tamil and
Hindi. This Telugu version is faithful remake of the original though
writer Kona Venkat and director Gopichand Malineni have tried to include
more entertainment and action to suit the Telugu audiences.
Venkatesh is known for this genre of movies that have mix of
sentiment and entertainment, so Bodyguard's subject and its screenplay
makes you feel familiar. Novelty in the script is in the climax
portions as the twist in the tale surprises you if you haven’t seen any
of the
Bodyguard Tamil, Malayalm and Hindi versions. The conflict point and sacrifice element in the script is another highlight.
First half of the movie runs on comedy. Second half of the movie and penultimate climax portions are its strength. Both the
handling of the climax scenes and performances of the lead actors
(Venky and Trisha) here are good.
Performances
For
Venkatesh this role is like a
cakewalk and the character is tailor-made for him. But he looks old for this kind of love story, though. His performance is the
saving grace.
Trisha steals the show in an author baked role. She
brings compassion to the role.
Saloni is seen throughout the movie but
hardly has anything to play. Prakash Raj, Kota, Subbaraju and Pragathi
have essayed the same roles what they have doing in all the films with
ease. Ali and Venumadhav have tried to provide some laughter.
Dialogues by Kona are okay. Taman’\'s music is not that effective on
the screen, though Evvaro and Adugaduguna numbers are good to ears. Sam K
Naidu’s camerawork is neat. Ram Lakshman's fights are run of the mill
stuff. Gowtham Raju’s editing should have been taut.
Director Gopichand Malineni has played safe game by faithfully remaking
the scenes from the original Malayalam movie.
Bottom-line!
Last 30
minutes are what the movie is worth for. It is nicely packaged family
entertainer mostly targeted at women and family audiences. People who
haven’t seen the film in other languages might enjoy more. On the whole,
Venkatesh and Trisha’s
Bodyguard is simple and neat entertainer.
Rating: 3.25/5
Reviewed by JP
