2/5
2 Hr 17 Mins | Action | 25-08-2023
Cast – Varun Tej, Sakshi Vaidya, Nassar, Vimala Raman, Vinay Rai, Narain, Roshini Prakash and others
Director – Praveen Sattaru
Producer – BVSN Prasad
Banner – SVCC
Music – Mickey J Meyer
After Ghani and Ghost, Varun Tej and director Praveen Sattaru join forces respectively. The duo needs success badly to comeback. The trailer of Gandeevadhari keeps the hopes alive. Will Varun and Praveen deliver? Take a look at our review.
Plot
Arjun Varma (Varun Tej) is appointed to protect Environment Minister Aditya (Nasser) who attends a summit in London. Arjun has a past. He broke up with Ira, an IAS officer, who works as personal secretary for Minister Aditya. Arjun needs to report to Ira. Aditya is in high-risk as he is being chased by baddies who are part of environment pollution. A big corporate company CNG is after the minister. What is File 13? How does Arjun deal with all baddies and address the larger concern of pollution?
Performances
Varun Tej is sleek and stylish. He fits the role of an agent. He is good at shooting episodes and action stunts. Besides this, he doesn’t have much to do. Sakshi Vaidya as Ira is just present. She doesn’t add any value other than adding some glam touch to the screen. Nasser is usual in the minister role. Kalpalatha, of Pushpa fame, plays Varun’s mom who is sick. The mother-sentiment doesn’t work as expected. Vinay Rai plays Ranveer, the antagonist. All the characters get cliched. The character arcs are pretty linear. None of the actors elevate in this bland movie. Director Praveen Sattaru fails in delivering an engaging writing.
Technicalities
Technically, Gandeevadhari has some scoring points. But they are bogged down by the writing. Weak writing and flat narration makes this a tiring watch. Barring some visuals shot in foreign locales, the story doesn’t excite or entice. The film lacks the edge-of-seat moments. Editing is fine. Cinematography by Amol Rathod and Mukesh catches attention. Mickey J Meyer’s Background music is the saving grace.
Highlights
Stylish Making
Some Action Scenes & BGM
Drawbacks
Second Half
Bad Writing
Climax
Analysis
Director Praveen Sattaru seems to have learnt no lessons even after a damp squib like The Ghost. He sticks to the usual style. The writing is pretty bad and scenes are cliched. The film is loaded with predictable moments. While the first half is somewhat bearable and sets up the story, whereas the second-half totally nosedives. The viewers are over the stretched scenes and cliched proceedings. After a point, even director Praveen Sattaru is clueless and appears to have given-up. The film turns bland entirely.
Director’s fascination for action stunts, gun shots, chase scenes get the major position. They look very forced and unnatural in the film, taking away the essence.
The major problem with the Gandeevadhari Arjuna is that it doesn’t have a soul. The social problem of garbage and pollution isn’t handled well. Mixing this with corporate corruption and There is no emotion in the film. The protagonist has a personal loss due to pollution. But even it isn’t narrated in a convincing and connecting way. The viewers get disconnected with the protagonist and his aim. It is quite predictable that the hero saves the small girl Ritu. The audiences nowhere feel tense or stay hooked to the proceedings. The climax portion is uninteresting and ends on very expected lines.
The film clearly has shades of director’s previous work The Ghost made with Nagarjuna Akkineni and was rejected by audiences. With Gandeevadhari, Praveen Sattaru stooped further low. He failed to pick an engaging story and deliver a gripping narration. One can’t help but feel sad for Varun Tej and other cast in this film. It is a totally unavoidable film. This Arjuna misses the target by miles.
Verdict: Hathavidhi.. Arjunaa..
Rating: 2/5
