“Power Star” Pavan Kalyan’s fans have had all the reasons to be eagerly waiting for Komaram Puli since his last release “Jalsa” was almost 2.5 years back. Komaram Puli promised to have all the key ingredients for success viz., the tried and tested directorial skills of Surya, Music by A R Rahman, a Mumbai import Nikisha Patel, an item number by Shriya Saran & the typical bollywood villain played by Manoj Bajpai. Komaran Puli is all about how these ingredients were mixed to finally dish out a powerless and tasteless dish!!!

What’s it about: The film starts off with Sharanya swearing revenge on Saleem (Manoj Bajpai) for having killed her inspector husband. She starts training her unborn kid to be a cop by literally giving him marching orders while he is in her womb. Time flies & Komaram Puli makes an action-packed entry by single-handedly saving the PM from an assassination attempt in Bangkok. He soon gets the permission to set up a special unit called the Puli Team which is responsible for eliminating terrorism & improving the image of the police force. Puli goes about this task by sincerely by giving long speeches to one and all at every available chance. A side track has Madhumathi (Nikisha Patel) trying to desperately woo the duty-conscious Puli leading to some dream song sequences. Soon, Puli’s hunt for the elusive international terrorist, Nixon, brings him in conflict with Al Saleem (Manoj Bajpai in a different get-up) who lords over the criminals in Hyderabad. By the end of it, Puli realizes that Nixon is a member of his elite Puli team & also that Saleem is his father’s killer leading to an overdrawn predictable climax supported by a final speech on patriotism.

What is Good: The good part of the movie is that it is all about Pavan Kalyan which ensures that the fans are treated to a lot of “punch” dialogues about duty, sacrifice and patriotism. There are a couple of passionate monologues by Pavan Kalyan that had the audience cheering wildly. Pavan does a decent job of characterizing the behavior of a cop through his body language and voice modulation. The other solid performance is by Sharanya who does an excellent job as Puli’s mother without going overboard with her personal revenge angle or melodrama. Nasser & Charanraj are dependable in their roles as police officers. The Power star and Amma Thalli songs stand out for their catchy lyrics and music. Cinematography by Binod Pradhan is good.

What is bad: Puli fails in a couple of areas with the main culprit being the lack of focus on the cop angle. Director Surya tries hard to make a story of an idealist cop but falters by bringing in the one-sided romantic track which dilutes most of the first half. The other main culprit is villain’s character which is poorly sketched out by Manoj Bajpai. Saleem’s character that should have had cunning & aggression to counter Puli’s intensity & passion instead ends up being comical in most parts. Nikisha Patel makes a forgettable debut in her bimbette act while Ali & Bhramaji are wasted in miniscule roles. Shriya’s item number alongwith her two minute role seems to be forced into the screenplay. The other laughable and unbelievable part is the Puli Team who despite their hi-fi fancy equipment and special powers is unable to identify the terrorist who is a part of their core team.

Me Thinks: The director should have stuck to making a realistic film about the cop and his quest for justice instead of bringing in unnecessary sub-plots & dragging it to a predictable climax. The foreign locations, expensive sets and weak villainy don’t just add to an entertaining experience

Tailpiece: Numerous references are made to the Power Star tag throughout the film with the best analogy being the “Simha” & “Star” symbols on a cop’s uniform being equated to the Power Star!!!