By Galatta [ August 12, 2011 ]
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Jr. NTR's Om Shakti, dubbed version of Tollywood's highest budget movie till date, has skyrocketed expectations ever since its launch. Director Meher Ramesh has assured that the film would rewrite the history of Tollywood records with its unprecedented planning and execution. But the end product has has turned out to be one of the most poorly scripted high budget films in the past few years. Meher Ramesh's first film Kantri had a Pokiri touch and this time, he is inspired by Magadheera and some vital scenes resembled Ram Charan's getup in Magadheera.

THE PLOT

The film basically has two different stories that takes place in two different eras; Egyptians (Sonu Sood, Pooja Bedi) have their eye on an enigmatic diamond. owned by Raya family (SPB), which is considered to be the protecting force of all the Shakti Peethams in India. The Egyptians need the diamond  to bring their mummies back to life. However, they come to know that it is no easy task to get the diamond as it is guarded by Rudra (Jr. NTR). Sonu Sood and Rudra die during the clash for the diamond. Now Rehna (Pooja Bedi) takes an oath to avenge her husband’s death besides fulfilling the dream of possessing the diamond.

Fast forward: After 27 years, Union Home Minister Mahadevaraya (Prabhu) is the proud owner of the same enigmatic diamond; his daughter Aishwarya (Ileana), who is born with the special powers of Shakti Matha, plans to run away from her home for a long vacation with friends. But unknowingly, she takes the diamond with her. During her journey, Aishwarya meet Shakti (Jr. NTR's second role), a greedy guide. Slowly, Aishwarya falls in love with her guide Shakti. At this point Rehna sends her men to get steal the diamond. For that, she decides to kidnap Aishwarya. When Rehna's son attacks Aishwarya, it is revealed that Shakti is an undercover NSG commando. What happens next is the rest of the story.

THE PERFORMANCES

Jr. NTR is the only saving grace. He appears in two get ups: as an NSG Commando and a warrior. Jr. NTR's performance as Shakti is cool and he looks dashing in blazers in post interval scenes. However, he should have taken care of Rudra’s get ups which do not suit him at all. The hairstyle and the warrior get up of Ram Charan Teja on NTR lacks the X factor. Though Ileana has a meaty role in the film, she fails to impress. Sonu Sood’s role is limited and he is wasted. Manjari Fadnis looks good and excels on screen (even though she appears only in a few scenes). Bollywood star Jackie Shroff, Ali, Bramhanandam,Venumadhav, M.S. Narayana, Dharmavarapu Subramaniam, Krishna Bhagawan have also been wasted in the film. The first half of the film is pretty interesting but the second half fails to impress completely.

The major drawback of the film is its weak story and weird imagination; the concept of Egyptians lacks logic. Director Meher Ramesh's narration is too weak and the director has deliberately ignored many logics, especially the time factor in the story. Mani Sharma’s music is another weak point. None of the songs are catchy.

One of the major highlights of the film is its sleek cinematography by Sameer Reddy and the DI works. The film's budget is very well reflected in the locations, costumes, sets and the stylish action sequences.

THE VERDICT

Watch the film if you are a diehard Jr. NTR fan! For the rest, watch it at your own risk!

Reviewed by Ambili S.