The Gopichand-Trisha starrer “Shankam” had a low-key release this week to average expectations. The low-key release publicity, in contrast to the highly hyped Mallanna and Josh, seems to have worked in its favor in keeping expectations in control. This will definitely shine at the box-office as there are no other releases this week giving Gopichand his second consecutive hit after “Shouryam”.

What is it about : Picturesque Sydney is the first-half setting where the happy-go-lucky Chandu (Gopichand) bumps into the tomboyish Mahalaxmi (Trisha) and promptly falls in love with her at the first look. The rest of the first half has Chandu trying his best to woo her using the help of “Saif Ali Khan” (Ali) leading to many comical episodes. In the background, we are also introduced to the famed age-old Rayalaseema rivalry between the good Sivaih (Satyaraj) and the villainous Pashupathi (Kota Srinivas Rao). In the midst of this, Mahalaxmi is forcibly taken back to Rayalaseema with Chandu landing up there on a rescue mission. Soon we discover that Chandu’s father is Sivaih while Mahalaxmi is Pashupathi’s daughter. So now, the second half is about the warring families and how Chandu tries unsuccessfully to make peace with Pashupathi leading to Sivaih’s death. So like in all such movies, we move on to a predictable climax where all the bad guys die violently for their sins and the love-birds live happily ever-after.

What is Good: The light first half keeps the audience occupied thanks to the comedy and the songs. Ali, Venu Madhav, Krishna Bhagwan have the audience in splits with their comic acts. Gopichand excels as the lover boy in the first half while the tough guy act comes easily to him in the second half. He acts well and shines as expected in the well-executed action scenes. Chandramohan, Kota Srinivas Rao provide adequate support. Of the songs, “Mahalakshmi” and “Dhakku Dhakku” are catchy. Trisha does full justice to her bubbly character and manages to look sexy whether she is in minis or saris!

What is bad: The second half drags a bit trying while trying to build up the father-son relationship and this makes it a bit serious and sentimental. Some of the action sequences seem to be forced into the script only to show-off Gopichand’s action skills.

Me Thinks: Shankam can be watched once as it does meet the minimum audience expectation of watching a timepass movie.

Tailpiece: Satyaraj, the popular Tamil hero in the nineties, makes a comeback to Tollywood after a long time and he does bring in a quiet dignity to Sivaih’s character without going over the top.