Andhra Pradesh   

`Operation' confusion

ONE FOR THE CAMERA: Srikanth and Kalyani in `Operation Duryodhana'

Operation Duryodhana (Telugu)

Cast: Srikanth, Kalyani Direction: Posani Krishna Murali

Operation Duryodhana conveys the scowling body language of controlled fury that radiated from Inspector Mahesh played by Srikanth. The film begins with the protagonist walking naked on the streets for a cause.

Next it takes on a disconnected, anecdotal style as it attempts to establish the neighbourhood setting, the MLAs, CM, police, the public etc. The director's penchant for the police, and the stereotypes adds a surrealistic and confusing dimension to the entire plot. Only halfway through the movie do we get the sense that in this reconstruction of family chaos the focus is on erring Government officials. The protagonist abandons his faith in them and there is no turning back. We witness an orgy of violence and eloquent speeches by Paruchuri Gopalakrishna and sometimes by Mumaith Khan!

Incoherent

Having a director that can tell a coherent story and getting us to identify with a character's plight, is essential to making a film like this work. The fight for separate states and satirical references to a few politicians is stymied by disorganised directing and screenplay, not to mention its own self-conscious pretension in trying to confuse its audience as much as possible, as to whom the ire is directed.

Srikanth who has proved himself a capable actor before does his stoic thing but hasn't been handled well and the dialogues given to him are rustic and a put off.

Kalyani has clearly fallen into the mummy roles and Mumaith Khan's presence is obvious. The film is good in parts, it is let down by a script that sails between an average cinema and TV cop show. Just skip this operation!

Sunita Chowdary

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