Telugu360 Rating : 1.5/5

After delivering a decent thriller with ‘Ninu Veedani Needanu Nene’, Sundeep Kishan has changed tracks to get connected to the mass audiences. “Tenali Ramakrishna BA BL” that hit the screens today is his attempt to reach out to the large audiences. Let’s find out whether he has reached his goal or not.

Story :

In Kurnool city, a businesswoman Varalakshmi (Varalaxmi Sarath Kumar) with Rs 5000 crores worth of assets is facing charges of murdering a journalist. She hires a criminal Chakravarthy (Murali Sharma) to defend her. In the same court, a young lawyer Tenali Ramakrishna (Sundeep Kishan) has earned the name of ‘compromise vakeel’ as he settles the legal issues out of court between the two parties. His only aim is to get a big case that would earn him respect and marry Chakravarthy’s daughter Rukhmini (Hansika). Due to some incidents, he gets Varalakshmi’s case and proves her as innocent in the case. But the real trouble begins later.

Analysis

Posani Krishna Murali is a judge in the court. When a witness starts talking about the murder case, Posani becomes restless. Because she sings, not talks. She utters every word in a rhythmic form, like a song. Like a political rap song that a TV9 news anchor does every day. Her dialogue delivery makes Posani beat himself, a lawyer present there runs out to vomit. It was unbearable for them to sit through listening to her talking err singing.

This episode comes in the second half of ‘Tenali Ramakrishna BA BL’. By the end of the movie, the audience gets the same feeling of Posani. Despite occasional laughs here and there, the proceedings are unbearable. A boring affair!

Tenali Ramakrishna is a classic example of template-moviemaking. It doesn’t surprise at all. Comedies work when the lines are hilarious. Here what we get to see the regular Jabardasth comedy tricks. Chammak Chandra of Jabardash comedy show appears as Chammak Chandrika and does the same transgender comedy. And Varalaskhmi’s gang beat Vennela Kishore and his family for calling her ‘aunty’. This is a lengthy comedy sequence!

The comedy tracks are pretty ordinary; the romantic thread is straight out of hundreds of movies we had seen. Nothing new in the comedy or in romance.

Sundeep Kishan has put in the sincere effort but this character hardly suits him. A hero with a comic face should have done this role. Hansika is a miscast. She doesn’t have a meaty role, neither she does have glamorous appeal. The director has given her mannerism like the one that Mehreen did in ‘F2’ but this one falls flat. Varalakshmi Sharat Kumar’s character gets a lot of buildups but it turns out to be another negative role. She, however, has done a good job in her straight Telugu film. She has dubbed her lines on her own. Among other characters, Murali Sharma, Saptagiri, Prabhas Seenu, Posani, and Chammak Chandra get more footage. Some comedy portions are okay.

Coming to the technical output, the film has decent technical values and production design.

The writing is very formulaic. The writers have done a clumsy job.

Positives:

• Nothing much other than a few laughs

Negatives:

• Old style narration
• Cliched jokes
• Predictableness all through
• Hansika

Verdict:

‘Tenali Ramakrishna BA BL’ is another ‘case’ of Sundeep Kishan erring in judging the stories. The film is filled with old tricks, clichéd lines, Jabardasth comedy, and boring romantic thread. A farce in the name of comedy.

Telugu360 Rating : 1.5/5