Chatrapathi Review: Bellamkonda Sai Sreenivas’ Bollywood debut feels like a horribly written kindergarten tale with no substance

By Shachi Chaturvedi

Cast: Nushrratt Bharuccha, Bellamkonda Sreenivas

Director: V. V. Vinayak

Runtime: 123min

Rating: 1/5

Synopsis

Shiva and his family are torn from their Sri Lankan community and end up working as bonded labourers in Vishakhapatnam. Shiva, like his name, aspires to become the oppressed’s rescuer.

Review

A remake of the 2005 film of the same name. This film tells the story of a woman who has adopted her husband’s son (Shiva) from his first marriage and loves both of his children equally. The narrative opens with the mother and his other son being separated from Shiva.

They end up in different areas after their separation, and Shiva is now working for the village’s ‘Bhai’ while searching for his mother and brother (Ashoke). Ashoke despises Shiva and would go to any length to kill him. Now, the plot of the film is around Shiav’s struggle to overcome oppression and reclaim his family.

Talking about how the script was executed… bullsh*t. What a waste of time this movie is, and I’m still trying to figure out why Nushrratt is in it. It appears that she is there to introduce music; whenever you see her on screen, there is a song on the way.

The filmmaker doesn’t even allow her enough time to settle on screen; she’s more of a supporting character than a female lead. I have no words to convey how terrible the editing is, from the kindergarten-level Transformation effects to the visibly altered backdrop. The movie is little more than a hassle. I’m not sure who is giving such fancy clothes to a labourer. And how can someone fall in love two minutes into the story?

There are so many unresolved questions that I’m not sure I want to know the answers to. I’m glad the movie only lasted two hours and that I made it through it. The Shiva guy is fighting along with four of his comrades, and they all appear like ‘Bhavnagar ke Pandav’.

When it comes to star performances, Nushrratt merely has a screen presence and appears to be a total waste of time at moments. She is only present for the purpose of being there, and her character has no meaning or depth.

With this flick, Sreenivas makes his Bollywood debut. First and foremost, why? What made him believe this was the proper script? And, secondly, how much overacting is too much? He simply keeps on going with his cringe-worthy dialogues and overacting.

Moving on, there are so many songs throughout the film that I’ve lost count. Exactly! You read it correctly: the songs are so inappropriate and out of place that they are too bad that they are good.

Can you imagine a goon from a small village who couldn’t find her mother in a 10-year span, and then Nushrratt appears and everything is resolved…Wow! There’s nothing else to say about this movie; it seemed like a torture cell where we were seated to pay for our ‘Pichle Janam ke Paap’.

Conclusion

The film is horrible. ‘Paise Bachao Mat Jao’.