Puri Jagannath’s latest film ‘Ek Niranjan’ starring Prabhas, Kangana Ranauth and Sonu Sood is a pure commercial film by all means. Puri Jagannath returns to the genre of formula driven films which feature a dashing hero, a beautiful heroine and loads of villains who are waiting to get thrashed by the hero. The film is the story about an orphan who is in search of his parents and at the same time works for the Police, unofficially. Lets see if the film delivers what it promises.

What is it about : Prabhas stars as Chotu, who teams up with the Police department to catch the criminals. He’s an orphan and has been trying to search for his parents all his life. While trying to catch a criminal he bumps into Sameera (Kangana Ranauth), who teaches guitar to kids in the locality. Eventually the two fall in love with each other. Meanwhile, Jhonny Bhai (Sonu Sood) knocks off a politician on behalf of another politician, Posani Murali Krishna. One day, Chotu meet Jhonny Bhai and the sparks start flying between the two. The rest of the story is about how Chotu resolves his problem with Jhonny Bhai’s gang and will he manage to find his parents?

What is Good: Puri Jagannath’s story about a loner in search of his parents might not be new, but the real strength of the film is in the characterization of all the actors. The dialogues pack a punch and quite often they are hilarious. Prabhas dazzles as Chotu, who lives life on his own terms. His body language is good and there’s a charm in his raw attitude with which he shocks the villains and at the same time impresses the heroine. Kangana Ranauth is good for her debut film, although she has nothing much to offer. Sonu Sood steals the show in his role as Jaggu Bhai. His conversations with Brahmaji are some of the best dialogues written in the film. Posani Krishna Murali is good as the politician.

What is bad: After a good beginning, the plot of the film goes haywire in the second half. And Puri inserts a mediocre comedy track featuring Brahmanandam, Ali and Abhinaya Sri to fill the gaps. The story eventually shifts to Bangkok and the film fails to capture the attention despite extended fights and couple of good songs. There are too many fights in the film and the climax desperately needs some trimming on the editing table.

Highlights of the film:
1. Prabhas’ characterization as Chotu.
2. Conversations between Sonu Sood and Brahmaji.
3. Hero’s introduction song, ‘Ek Niranjan’ and couple of other songs, Gundello and Mahamari.

Disappointments:
1. Boring Comedy track between Ali and Brahmanandam.
2. Second Half.

Technical Departments: Story by Puri Jagannath is alright and it has nothing new to offer. Cinematography by Sham K. Naidu is good especially in the songs and action sequences. Editing by M.R.Varma is adequate, although the movie needs some serious editing in second half. Music by Mani Sharma is good and most of the songs stand out because of its music and lyrics. Puri Jagganath also wrote the story, dialogues and screenplay for the film apart from directing it. He wrote some wonderful dialogues for Sonu Sood, Prabhas and Posani. Direction is really good in the first half. Screenplay could have been better in the second half.

Bottomline: ‘Ek Niranjan’ begins with an extremely promising note and the tempo carries on throughtout the first half. Prabhas, Sonu Sood steal the show with their dialogues. However, the story goes haywire in the second half and the comedy track is just average. Also the extended fights throughout the film could have been avoided to some extent. The film could do well with some serious trimming. In the end, it’s a thoroughly enjoyable film which has a Puri Jagannath’s trademark. It’s flamboyant and at times crazy, but isn’t that what we expect from films generally? Thumbs Up for Puri and Prabhas’s ‘Ek Niranjan’, go with low expectations and it won’t disappoint you.