Megastar Chiranjeevi's last outing in a mass avatar was Khaidi No.150. Sye Raa, Acharya, God Father, all jad either a serious or decent role. The songs and trailers of Waltair Veerayya promises a vintage Chiru. Bobby's last outing Venky Mama didn't fare well at the box office. Myhtri Movie Makers have teamed up for the 1st time with Chiru and Bobby.
Story :- Solomon (Bobby Simha) is a dangerous drug smuggler, who was captured by RAW agents in Malaysia to bring him to Indian Jail. On the way to India, the flight gets crash landing in Maredumilli, AP due to heavy rains. Till the back-up team comes, RAW agents have to keep Solomon safely in a local police station for a night. Seethapathi (Rajendra Prasad), the CI for the Maredumilli local police station, leaves to hospital for 3 hrs on a family urgency. By the time he comes back, Solomon's brother Michael (Prakash Raj) sends his people and kill all the constables, raw agents and shift Solomon back to Malaysia. As the department doesn't support him, Seethapathi approaches Waltair Veerayya (Chiranjeevi) to help him in capturing Solomon from Malaysia for an 25L amount. Veerayya needs that amount to hold the long pending case of ACP Vikram (Ravi Teja) he has filed. Was Veerayya able to capture Solomon? What is the case Veerayya filed? Who is ACP Vikram? What is the backstory of Michael? Forms the rest of the story.
Performances :- Vintage massy Chiru is back with a bang. His comedy timing, dances, antics and dressing, all remind us of Gharana Mogudu, Mutha Mestri, Annayya. He has lived the character of Veerayya and enjoyed playing it, which is very much visible in the output. He was terrific as well in emotional scenes and action episodes. Ravi Teja did his character as a police officer in a rather subtle way. The usual energy and mass of Raviteja was missing. Was it intentionally done to bring a decency to the character or was it designed to not surpass Chiru is unknown. Shruthi Haasan looks pretty both in the scenes and songs. She has an action block also, which is well done. Vennela Kishore brings some laughs in 1st half with his dialogues. Bobby Simha is believable as a drug smuggler and has that swag. Prakash Raj as main villain is fine. Rajendra Prasad, Catherine did justice to their roles.
Technicians :- Story wise, it's nothing new. An age old story of revenge drama when 2 heroes are there, even as recent as Acharya. But the narration and treatment is what makes Waltair Veerayya watchable. Using Chiru's core strengths of comedy, dance, Bobby made an engaging, entertaining, racy 1st half with an high interval block. However, the graph comes down in 2nd half with a slow dragged narration. Had the 2nd half been more racy, crispy, this would have become an blockbuster of the year. Lack of emotionally high episodes or conflict point that hooks us, the 2nd half becomes average. Background of DSP is a big plus for the elevation scenes. Dance in all the songs was good. Poonakalu loading is a bit of letdown, both in terms of song and dance. Costumes for Chiru especially were well done, be it Jalaripeta get up, classy action episodes in Malaysia or songs in foreign location. Action episodes were impactful, however, climax fight should have been trimmed down a bit. The surprise climax brings a high for the fans.
Positives :-
Chiranjeevi
Entertaining episodes throughout
Whistle worthy elevations for fans
Negatives :-
Average 2nd half
Predictable story and proceedings
Summary :- An entertaining 1st half and an average 2nd half makes it a watchable fare overall.
Rating :- 3/5 (Vintage Chiru is back)
