Nikhil Siddharth's latest outing "Shankarabharanam" (Sankarabharanam), which was released in theatres on 4 December, has received mixed reviews and average ratings from the film critics.
Written by Kona Venkat, "Shankarabaranam" is an action-crime-comedy film, which is an official adaption of the Hindi movie "Phas Gaye Re Obama". Uday Nandanavanam has made his debut as an independent director with this movie, which has been produced by MVV Sathyanarayana under the banner MVV Cinema.
Gautam (Nikhil Siddharth) is a carefree NRI and his mother sends him to Bihar to sell her ancestral property to settle his father's debts. Gautam reaches Bihar and is shocked to find the property occupied by his extended family. He gets a plan to sell it off, but he is kidnapped by a criminal gang, when he is about to close the deal. What happens next will form the rest of the story.
Critics say that "Shankarabharanam" has an interesting story, but it has been messed up on screen. The first half of the film is dragging and the move gets a momentum after the interval. The second half is engaging and engrossing. The film has been rated an average of 2.05 out of 5 stars. Continue to read critics' verdict in "Shankarabharanam" review roundup:
A film that comes with its share of comedy moments, thanks to Prithvi Raj, but what this one lacks is a gripping narrative and effective screenplay.
In an Industry where silly comedy sells better than anything else, Kona Venkat has become the first preference. "Sankarabharanam" is another comedy entertainer from the commercial writer of Telugu Cinema with debutant director Uday Nandanavanam. It's an official remake of "Phas Gaye Obama" (2010). What worked for Phas Gaye Obama are the original content, short runtime, slapstick comedy and honest performances. But this remake completely failed to match the standards of the original. It fails to evoke laughter with formulaic comedy and situations seen in many films in the past. By trying to create funny situational comedy the debutant director completely lost grip on the story that goes haywire from the word go. To summarize, "Sankarabharam" includes a pinch of comedy, a splash of craziness and a big gang to promising actors. If you think they all have made "Sankarabharanam" a worth watch, then you are wrong.
"Shankarabharanam" is good only in bits and pieces. A dragged out first half, slow narration and some below par execution of crucial scenes spoil the effect most of the time. Having said that, you can try this film only for its unique story line and Pruthvi's comedy punches here and there.
Nothing worked in the first half in spite of desperate attempts to make us laugh. Second half largely runs on the scenes taken from 'Phas Gaya Re Obama'. There are attempts to add humor to the proceedings but nothing clicked except for a few one liners mouthed by Prithvi. Climax is slightly better than the rest of the movie but on a whole "Shankarabharanam" will leave you disappointed. Kona and only Kona have to be blamed for this as the script turns the main villain for this film.
Prudhvi and some comedy in the climax are the saving grace of this dull and boring movie.
