By Baiju NT [ January 19, 2012 ]
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After being successfully remade in Tamil, Hindi and Kannada, here comes the Telugu edition of super hit Malayalam family entertainer Bodyguard, starring Dileep and Nayantara! Thanks to director Gopichand Mallineni and writer Kona Venkat; the Telugu remake, starring Venkatesh and Trisha, is faithful to the original as it does not focus on commercial elements, unlike the Hindi edition. Though the basic script remains unchanged, there is a lot of native flavour in the film due to the presence of several top Telugu artists in the cast and of course, it is essential for any remake, right?

The story begins with Tanikella Bharani, owner of a private security firm, sending Venkatadri (Venkatesh) to work as a bodyguard to Varada Rajulu (Prakashraj), who is under threat from his enemies. Venkatadri has immense respect for Varada Rajulu, who saved his family during an accident in his childhood. Venkatadri takes charge and soon learns that the real threat is not on Varada Rajulu but on his daughter Keerthi (Trisha), who has been targeted by her father’s political rivals (Kota Srinivasa Rao and his son).

To protect her, Venkatadri escorts Keerthi wherever she goes, even to her college. Venky's presence disturbs Keerthi as her co-students make fun of her and to avoid him, she makes anonymous phone calls and tells him that she loves him. Innocent Venkatadri believes it and tries to find out the anonymous caller. Eventually, Keerthi herself falls in love with Venkatadri. What happens next is to be seen on the screen.

Venkatesh is cool, stylish and impressive as Venkatadri. He is fine in comedic sequences and at his best in emotional scenes. However, his age factor is obvious on the screen and seemingly, he is bit old for this character as the love story is the integral part of the story. Trisha looks gorgeous and charms the audiences. Saloni plays an important role, but her performance is not so impressive. Kota Sreenivasa Rao and Prakashraj score in their respective roles. Ali and Venumadhav bring in a few laughs.

Like previous versions of Bodyguard, the last 30 minutes are the main attraction of the Telugu version as well. However, if you had watched any other Bodyguard versions, you may not be surprised with the final twist. Still, Venkatesh makes the film watchable! Dialogues by Kona Venkat are nice. Music by Thaman is an asset. Three songs are very good. Background score is fine. Editing should have been crispier. Cinematography is neat. Direction by Gopichand Malineni is flawless. All in all, Bodyguard is a simple but decent love story with enough commercial ingredients to appeal to all sections of the audience.