Khaidi No. 150

Evarina chustiuntara nadiche nakshatrani Eduroste egapadipora nene aa chitrani Ne pandistuna rythunai chirunavvu thotalini Paripalistuna rajunai koti gundela kotalni....

Indeed, a fitting tribute from Seetharama Sastry garu to the undisputed King of Telugu cinema - Megastar Chiranjeevi. He's one of the very few Indian movie heroes who can set cash registers ringing even with average contents. SS Rajamouli once candidly said in an interview - "To make a good movie, you need a good subject. But to make a blockbuster movie, you start with a Star". For close to 3 decades, Telugu cinema had its star, whose stardom rose to the pinnacle and at the same time had the nation sit back and take notice of Telugu movie stamina. If NTR had put telugu pride on the national map, then it was Chiranjeevi who put TFI into the national league with this movie collections.

Khaidi 150 is Chiru's own definition of one man show. You can see a 'Idar ka maal udar' Auto Johnny, 'Rough aadinche' Rajaram, 'Cheppaliani undi Gonthu vippaliani undi' Suryam and so on. He's brought his panache, his impeccable comic timing and his emotional dialogue delivery back with him after 10 long yrs. Only Jr NTR in Adhurs and Mahesh in Khaleja have come any closer to matching his timing in comedy. In Khaidi 150, Chiru with Brahmi and Ali keeps you entertained all along. Remember - Chamaku chammaku cham song from Kondaveeti Donga? There's a dance step choreographed by our Sundaram master where Chiru just wipes out his sweat using a napkin from his pocket. Quite graceful. There's plenty of that offered in Khaidi 150. No, not sweat. Its grace, you silly. Also, there's a cameo from Kajal in addition to Vinayak's and Charan's. She's in 3 songs and only songs. Kudos to DSP who elevates every frame with his thumping BGM and yes it's a known fact most of the songs are now heard more than the honks during traffic snarls in both the Telugu states. Dialogues by Sai Madhav and Parchuri Brothers are okay. Tarun Arora the antagonist is no match to our Khaidi and is probably the weakest link. All the other technicians have put in dedicated efforts to make this venture a grand memorable success.

I haven't seen the original Katthi but the basic plot by Murgadoss seems to be pretty ordinary. VV Vinayak stuck to the original but added all ancillary elements for a commercial potboiler - pinch of comedy, tablespoon of tragedy, ounces of oomph similar to what I once did in my Chemistry lab during school days with real chemicals. I got kicked out but Vinayak is being heaped with accolades for reel chemicals. Logic goes for a big toss. Sometimes, you can stand in the theater and laugh out loudly for the onscreen bloopers. They are so easy to catch like Pokémon. If you are an ardent Chiru fan you would ignore them, if not you would post memes on FB. You are free to choose your side.

So, made up your minds? Wanna watch the Return of the King? You can - without any qualms. Mundane story, few boo-boo's here and there and mass masala elements might throw you off - A sweet warning.

Writing this for the sake of Non-Telugu Audience. Don't let the rating fool you into watching this cliché-filled drama made worse with over-the-top acting and lame humor. It's a movie suited to last decade, not worth your 142mins. The bloated rating is a result of Actor's huge following, and something around 5 would've been ideal. You can probably go for it if you like Masala flicks which are light on brain, we have better ones in same genre though.

Chiranjeevi film carrier ending.... Remake baba chiranjeevi. Total megha family depending on remake films.

Well I am not a die hard fan who watches on first day. I bought a ticket to watch from one of my friends.. So don't take it as a review by a fan who is biased. Mine is an unbiased review. It is a great family entertainer. This movie does not have any vulgar scenes. So you can have fun watching this with your family. Chiru fans seemed less vocal and well behaved which I didn't expect on the very first day of his comeback movie. So I watched the movie pleasantly.

Now coming to the review: 1. Chiranjeevi- Great actor for a reason. His comeback was highly anticipated from the audience and he did a great job. His style, dance and action were great. There is no scene in the movie which showed any decline of Chiru's performance. He is still great. I can't believe he is 60+ years old. I appreciate his dance moves for such an aged person. He looked young and energetic. His action is awesome. The interval fight scene stands out! 2. Kajal- Looked hot and did good acting. Her role was limited and she gave her best. 3. Ali,Brahmanandam: Great fun watching them. Specially Brahmanandam garu's character was a complete surprise. 4.Others: All the other actors did well and the villain was decent.

Positives: 1.Highlights of the movie were the 1st half interval scene & 2nd half coin fight scene. 2.Dance moves of graceful Chiru is always a treat. 3.Songs are beautiful with great costumes. 4.DSP gave great background music. Raised the movie level. 5.VV Vinayak's direction was excellent. I was more impressed with the movie than the trailer. The trailer looked average but after watching the movie I really appreciated his direction.

Negatives: Nothing. I didn't find any. Although if you are a womanizer then you will not have any sexy scenes to watch and this is expected of Chiru's movie(because they are mostly intended for all including children). However I felt the villain could have been someone who spoke Telugu. His dubbing was not that great but he did a decent job and was not awkward. So nothing really negative.

Conclusion: Overall an excellent comeback movie from the Megastar. The social message in the movie also makes it a must watch. Even though it is a remake, one should not look down because it has brought a nice story to our Telugu audience. There are few changes in the story. I appreciate the superiority it showed over the original Tamil version. This movie can also be commercial super hit because the response I saw around during the movie was incredible. Huge positive response!! I appreciate all the artists of this movie and wish them all the best!

Completely spoiled kaththi in the name of remake...... The movie would have been good if it remaked as it is!!!!!