The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Total paisa vasool

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Saturday, May 10, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Total paisa vasool

Striking duo: NTR, Hansika in the film ‘Kantri’

Film: Kantri

Cast: NTR, Hansika

Direction: Mehar Ramesh

Kantri is an engaging and an entertaining film. It has the usual good versus evil storyline and has more than two gangs fighting for one-upmanship. NTR grows up in an orphanage and gets involved in gang war. It is later revealed that his boss Prakash Raj is actually his father. He joins his father in strengthening his business and at the same time succeeds in antagonizing the other rival group. The love-hate relationship between the father and son lead to more inventive co nceits and stalking adversaries.

What makes the sprawling drama different is that it is sturdy and well-crafted by Meher Ramesh, the dances, action sequences all are cleverly choreographed. There are some loopholes too, not all the dialogues are razor sharp, and romance is low key. Comedy fizzles out and romance appears for namesake.

The film is brought to life by a smart ensemble of actors who mostly play a negative role. The ladies, Hansika and Tanisha chip in commendable performance. The director establishes the characters and situations one by one, gradually picking up speed and by the time the credits roll, we’ve had a whirlwind tour of virtually everything you can do in this genre.

NTR has a natural ease with the audience so much so that it is hard not to care for him. There is no excessive melodrama and nothing is overweight. There is a resemblance to a scene in Pokiri where the suspense is revealed stripping the script of it’s freshness, but overall it’s mass, masala and a complete paisa vasool.

Y. SUNITA CHOWDHARY

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