Movie : Genius
Rating: 0.5/5
Cast : Havish, Ashwin, Vinod, Sarath Kumar, Ashish Vidhyardhi, Pradeep Rawat, Sanusha, Suman, Chandra Mohan and others
Directed by : Omkar
Produced by : Dasari Kiran Kumar
Banner : OAK Entertainments Pvt Ltd
Music : Joshwa Sridhar
Release Date : 2012-12-28
Famous TV program producer Omkar turned film director with Genius. Star writer Chinni Krishna, who had written stories for Narasimha Naidu, Indra, Gangothri etc is the story writer for this film. The film got ample attention for obvious reasons.
What is it about?
Srinivas (Havish) who is in awe of politician Nanaji (Pradeep Rawat) wants to become political leader like him. Srinivas helps him to win in elections. But he gets cheated by Nanaji and is arrested in a mass murder case. Yasir (Aswin) is a big fan of cricketer Nijamuddin who cheats everyone by involving in match fixing. Shiva (Vinod) is a loyal fan of cinema star Pedababu (Ashish Vidhyardhi), who doesn't care to help him when he is in a serious condition. All these three friends decides to teach a lesson to their idols and that is what this film is about.
Performances:
Havish is okay in the lead role. He needs to learn how to emote in particular situations. He is pretty lean and hence he didn't fit well in the fight scenes. Ashwin is alright and Shiva too did fine. Sarath Kumar's cameo could have been better. Brahmanandam's comedy is not impressive and it is just limited to a couple of scenes. All others have done justice to their assigned roles.
On the Technical Front:
Joshwa Sridhar's Music is average. A couple of songs are okay on screen. Dialogues lacked the desired punch. Paruchuri Brothers have come up with lazily written dialogue. Cinematpgraphy is neat and editing could have been better. Editing in first half is not up to the mark.
As a director Omkar opted to do a message oriented film for his debut. Not a Genius move it is. It is easy to deal with commercial entertainers or genre films, but films like these need finesse and special skills to impress the audiences. Omkar didn't have those special set of skills and therefore Genius didn't click. There is not a single scene where the director's talent can be appreciated. Hence, it is a failure for Omkar as a director. Better luck next time.
Analysis:
The film has its share of controversies. Match fixing issue reminds you of ex Indian cricket team captain Azharuddin's story. The name of the character (Nijamuddin) is also in sync. There are certain scenes in which cinema stars and political leaders are shown in bad light. This may hurt them.
Chinni Krishna said that this film would be highly controversial movie. Maybe he was referring to these things, but they hardly show any impact on screen due to poor direction. First half of the film is just pointless as the director preferred to tell the actual story only in the second hour. But he didn't mind to fill in the gaps with interesting scenes.
First half is sheer bore without any story. Second half has some story but it didn't work due to poorly conceived scenes. Despite watching few highly emotional scenes on screen, one wouldn't either feel the pain or feel for the characters. Proper script and good characterizations would have helped this film to do better. Instead of wasting time on unnecessary songs and stupid scenes in the first half, director should have given time to develop the characters.
Screenplay errors and bad direction made this a film without soul. As a movie Genius don't work on any level. Watch it at your own risk.
Verdict: Genius... Are you Serious?