Chiranjeevi and Shruti Haasan in Waltair Veeraiya
in his new telugu film voltair veeraiahDirected by KS Ravindra aka Bobby Kolli, When Chiranjeevi Says ‘Records lo na peru undadam kaadu, na peru mede records antai’ (It’s not about my name being in the records, the records are written in my name), amid loud applause of course, it is an undeniable testimony to the impact he has had on mainstream Telugu cinema in a career spanning over four decades. Has a claim. The writers – Bobby, Kona Venkat and Chakravarthy Reddy – dip liberally into Chiranjeevi’s past blockbusters to evoke nostalgia. As an added bonus, his story has room for Ravi Teja – another star who has cemented his place in the masala genre. The writers’ fanboy tribute to these stars has some fun segments, but the story that anchors it is intriguing.
Chiranjeevi plays Waltair Veeraiah, a fisherman in Vizag who smuggles in luxury goods and wears bright, floral shirts. Before we see her on screen, her voice terrifies a goon and makes him drop his lungi! The Indian Navy also turns to Veerayya to rescue the coast guards because when all else fails, Veerayya aka ‘Samundar ki Sarkar’ aka ‘Father of the Bay of Bengal’ can help.
The film doesn’t take itself too seriously and expects the audience not to take it too seriously. Thankfully there is a story, even if it is sketchy and trite. A wanted criminal, Solomon Caesar (Bobby Simha), is temporarily sheltered in a village police station and this leads to a massacre. Seethapati (Rajendra Prasad), a grief-stricken officer, seeks Veeraiah’s help to avenge the loss of his colleagues.
voltair veeraiah
Direction: Bobby Collie
music: Devi Sri Prasad
Throw: Chiranjeevi, Ravi Teja, Shruti Haasan, Prakash Raj
sequence: 160 minutes
story: Follows the story of a fisherman in Vizag who smuggles luxury goods and his friend, an arrogant top police officer, who tries to stop him
The first half of the 160-minute tale is packed with dialogues and dance moves to remind us of vintage Chiranjeevi. He shows that he still dances when he dances at Devi Sri Prasad’s ‘Boss Party’. There’s also a throwback to Chiranjeevi and Sridevi’s ‘Abbani Teyani Debba’ song Jagadeka Veerudu Atilok Sundari When Chiranjeevi re-imagines dancing with the younger Shruti Haasan. Later in the film they also dance to ‘Nuvvu Sridevi Aithe, Nenu Chiranjeevi…’. These nostalgia is punctuated by jokes on contemporary cinema. A dialogue refers to the heroes running late to attend the audio functions surrounded by bouncers.
The narrative maintains this flaky and fun flavor when he travels to Malaysia so that Veerayya confronts Solomon Caesar and his brother, Kala (Prakash Raj).
If you’re wondering where Shruti Haasan fits into the story, she gets a slightly better deal than Veera Simha Reddy, As a duty manager at a star hotel, she helps him get to the 15th floor by repeatedly holding Chiranjeevi’s hand in the lift as he is afraid of heights. Remember that you shouldn’t take anything in this movie too seriously. After a while he also gets a chance to pull off some clever action moves, no matter how small it is as he has to be eventually saved by Chiranjeevi.
The film brings in Ravi Teja when the need is felt to give the story some emotional depth. As police officer Vikram Sagar, Ravi Teja plays Chiranjeevi’s half-brother and gets enough bandwidth to reminisce about his initial film with Chiranjeevi, titled Annayya, They dance to the foot-tapping ‘Poonakallu loading’, which is choreographed to showcase their camaraderie and dancing skills. The face-off between the two actors is replete with crowd-pleasing references from their past hits.
Prakash Raj tries to roar in his given character but we have seen him in menacing roles before. Same goes for Bobby Simha whose villainy looks like a put-on act.
Vennela Kishore makes a mark in a few scenes but there are others including Rajendra Prasad, Catherine Tresa and Sathyaraj who are saddled with forgettable parts.
voltair veeraiah Fun for those who want to see loads of references like Chiranjeevi’s previous movies prisoner And gang leader Or enjoy Ravi Teja and Chiranjeevi reciting each other’s hit dialogues during a face-off. But if you’re looking for a solid fan-favourite tribute to Chiranjeevi’s stardom with an engaging story, this isn’t it.
Nostalgia is interesting when it’s presented in the right way, not when it becomes a tool to propagate a flimsy narrative.