'Shankam' Movie Review

Film: SANKHAM
Rating: 3.5/5
Banner: Sri Balaji Cine Media
Cast: Gopichand, Trisha, Sathyaraj, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Chandramohan, Srinivas Reddy, Ali, Krishna Bhagawan, Banerjee, Venu Madhav, Supreeth, Dharmavarapu, Rajitha, Seetha, L B Sriram etc.
Music: Thaman
Cinematography: Vetri
Director: Siva
Producers: J Bhagawan, J Pulla Rao
Release Date: September 11, 2009

Story:
A tale that was stale, the story begins with Chandu (gopi) who lives in Australia along with his uncle Krishna Rao (chandramohan). Having learnt martial arts, he is itching to get into a fight however he doesn't get it. Meanwhile, he chances upon Mahalakshmi (Trisha) and it is love at first sight. What Chandu does not know is, he has a father Sivaiah (Satyaraj) back in India and that too in Cuddapah. He is like god to the villagers but he has a strong enemy in the form of Pasupathi. Mahalakshmi is Pasupathi's daughter and she falls in love with Chandu. That brings him to the Rayalaseema region since Mahalakshmi's wedding is getting fixed. What happens from there forms the rest of the story.

Presentation:
The director has come up with an emotional action treat but then he has failed in the narrative though the presentation was good. The dialogues were alright, the script was written weakly and the screenplay was adequate. Background score was a letdown while two songs were nice. Cinematography was neat, editing was okay. Costumes deserve appreciation and art department did its bit. The comedy was good in parts and action sequences were okay. Gopichand tried to dabble with comedy this time in major dose but his violent part was good, Trisha looks gorgeous and she has put on weight which makes her look more pretty. Sathyaraj was graceful, Kota was good, Supreeth was wasted, Ali gave his bit with smiles, Chandramohan was standard, Dharmavarapu was okay, Venu Madhav was nice, Srinivas Reddy was hilarious, Krishna Bhagawan was witty, Banerjee was intense, the others did their bit as required.

Conclusion:
The film was slated to be an action entertainer but then it missed the punch at the right time, even the emotional scenes lacked depth. While the first half goes about with the comedy and the regular romance bits, the second half goes about with the serious sequences, melodrama and a pulsating climax. The film has good technical values but then the content lacked depth and the voltage was missing. This one might not be able to survive for long since expectations were high but have not been met.