Bhola Shankar Review – Mega Cringe Fest

BOTTOM LINE
Mega Cringe Fest

OUR RATING
1.75/5

CENSOR
U/A, 2h 40m

---

What Is the Film About?

Shankar (Chiranjeevi) is a Taxi driver in Kolkata. He comes to the city with his sister and then silently takes down the human trafficking mafia. Why is he doing that? Is there any twist related to his sister Maha (Keerthi Suresh) forms the movie’s basic plot.

Meanwhile, the subplot involves Shankar and Lasya (Tamannaah) having a love-hate relationship going on that later turns into love.

Performances

Megastar Chiranjeevi plays a bread-and-butter kind of role for him in Bhola Shankar. It is a mass entertainer, and the star does all that is typically required from a ‘star’. The only problem here is the execution which screams outdated from the word go.

Chiranjeevi tried hard to make the one-man show going, but nothing worked. Entertainment-wise, so much is done, but poor writing and cringe ideas make them irritating. The latter even makes it look very odd for Chiranjeevi. It is high time he stopped the ‘cringe’ on-screen tease with the female cast.

In the end, it is an act that doesn’t spoil the narrative, but at the same time, it is a million miles away from being anything special or memorable.

Tamannaah and Keerthy Suresh are the two actresses in the movie. The former has more screen time in the first half, whereas the latter gets better footage in the second half.

Tamannah plays a lawyer, but the character is more about the relationship with Shankar. She tries hard to do well, but the content is such that it is bound to irritate anyone.

Keerthy Suresh appears intermittently during the first hour. But it is crucial and gets a better deal during the second hour. She is alright, playing the Megastar’s sister.

Sushanth appears briefly and does his part sincerely. There is sadly nothing in it to make him register among the audience, though. It is an instantly forgettable role, and one doesn’t recall him by the end of the whole thing.

---

Analysis

Meher Ramesh directs Bhola Shankar. He started his career in Telugu with Kantrri, and his last flick as director was Shadow, released exactly a decade ago. Meher Ramesh returns ten years later with the Telugu remake of Tamil flick Vedalam.

Unfortunately, in the decade since Meher Ramesh hasn’t directed a movie, he hasn’t improved his craft. Right from the first frame, one can see outdatedness screaming at us. And it never stops.

Be it comedy, action, or emotion, Bhola Shankar feels like a film that should have been made a couple of decades ago. The effect is compounded by the writing that never engages and gives a cringe vibe throughout.

Bhola Shankar is a typical commercial entertainer. The primary job here is to entertain with the correct dose of comedy, action and emotion. In that regard, the first half mainly comprises the ‘entertainment’ part.

The problem is the comedy doesn’t work; instead, it irritates. The entire track involving Chiranjeevi and Vennela Kishore is the prime example. But that’s not it. There are even more cringe tracks that don’t suit a Megastar’s stature.

The tale has a twist around the interval mark, but it doesn’t evoke any reaction. It just goes with the flow, but more importantly, the interval is a relief after all that preceded it.

The second half feels comparatively better as the focus is more on action and emotion. A serious tone is maintained throughout, which leads to boredom more than anything else.

The good thing here with the remake is that the ‘transformation’ scenes are removed. It takes away the comparison angle. However, it also means that there is nothing worthwhile to do for an actor like Chiranjeevi here.

It begs the question of why a project like Bhola Shankar was chosen in the first place. Is it merely for collections? Or is Meher Ramesh staging a comeback by bringing us a slick commercial entertainer? Nothing of that sort happens here. There is zero iota of effort in freshening up the subject. What makes it worse is the so-called homages with outdated thoughts and execution.

Overall, Bhola Shankar is a stale project from the word go, and it remains that way from the start to the end. The first half is cringe loaded, whereas the second bores one to death. It is a criminal wastage of Chiranjeevi’s talents, making it difficult for fans to sit through—a forgettable fare.

---

Performances by Others Actors

Apart from the main leads, a considerable cast plays supporting roles in Bhola Shankar. We have many known faces, but Vennela Kishore hogs the limelight, particularly in the first half. Regrettably, Vennela Kishore is terrible. When the content is so poor, he hardly has anything left to do here. Whatever he does irritates making it one of his instantly forgettable outings.

Murali Sharma, Sayaji Shinde, Ravi Shankar, Raghu Babu, Thulasi etc., have limited roles which they carry out adequately. There is nothing much to talk about them performance-wise. Srimukhi, Rashmi Gautham etc., have some scenes that define the term cringe. It makes one wonder what the director or the team was thinking in the first place.

---

Music and Other Departments?

Mahati Swara Sagar provides the music for the film. It is his first big outing, and he disappoints big time instead of delivering something memorable. Both the songs and the bgm fail to catch the imagination of viewers. The latter is the bigger disappointment of the two, as it simply aids an outdated production.

Dudly handles the cinematography. The visuals carry a dated vibe lacking the freshness of a current outing. The editing is alright. Marthand K Venkatesh keeps things basic without trying anything fancy. The writing is the most disappointing factor, generating an archaic vibe from the start.

---

Highlights?

Nothing

Drawbacks?

Story

Screenplay

Direction

Writing

---

Did I Enjoy It?

No

Will You Recommend It?

No