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Acharya Movie Review: This formulaic, dated Chiranjeevi-Ram Charan starrer fizzles out
Acharya Review: Acharya (Chiranjeevi) has his task cut out. He enters the damned temple town and realizes that eve-teasers, rapists, molesters, and greedy louts are ruling the roost.
Title: Acharya
Cast: Chiranjeevi, Ram Charan and others
Director: Koratala Siva
Run-Time: 154 minutes
Rating: 2/5
Do you know what happens in Padaghattam, a fictional temple town that forms the backdrop of 'Acharya'? The residents of Padaghattam go through terrible ordeals because of the evil boss lording over Padaghattam. The Padaghattam people know well that the days of Padaghattam are numbered if someone doesn't save Padaghattam. The good news is that Padaghattam does wake up to the entry of the saviour of Padaghattam one fine day. This hero of Padaghattam is firmly committed to re-establishing Dharmic order in Padaghattam so that Padaghattam can breathe easy all over again for the inhabitants of you-know-which-place but let's be clear about it - Padaghattam.
If you are wondering why this reviewer had to bombard you with Padaghattam, Padaghattam and more Padaghattam, it is because of the colossal impact the film's dialogues leave on the audience. The dialogues are about repeating the name of the temple town a punishingly incredible number of times in the first half. Padaghattam is mentioned seven times in the scene after Pooja Hegde's introduction and we are not exaggerating.
Acharya (Chiranjeevi) has his task cut out. He enters the damned temple town and realizes that eve-teasers, rapists, molesters, and greedy louts are ruling the roost. Nobody tells him that it must be because of some evil man at the helm. So, at the 40th minute approximately, Acharya learns about Basava (Sonu Sood). This Basava guy has an evil collaborator in Rathod (Jisshu Sengupta), who is your 345th stock character in the movie.
Padaghattam's disciplined son Siddha (Ram Charan) had to lock horns with another baddie (Sourav Lokesh), probably the film's 765th stock character. The evil characters in 'Acharya' know no subtlety. They openly say 'We will convert this temple town into an industrial town' and expect pious people to surrender to the vision of 'Vikas'.
In any given frame, there is either a victim or a perpetrator or both. At any given time, someone is either committing profanity or is talking about how the profane is threatening the sacred.
The film is a casting nightmare with the likes of Ajay, Vennela Kishore, just Kishore, Sonu Sood, Shatru, and Jisshu Sengupta leaving us in splits in unintentional ways. The villains behave unpredictably; one group rushes into a battle scene with axes and another group marches ahead without any weapons. The shoot-out scenes involving Maoists are at the level of a Telugu-language web series.
A cardinal sin that 'Acharya' commits is that the emotional bonding between Chiranjeevi's character and Charan's Siddha looks forced. It is as if Chiru's face is saying this to the audience at the expense of the script intensity: 'I am proud of my son Ram Charan and I want you all to know this'.
In 'Mirchi', 'Srimanthudu', 'Janatha Garage' and 'Bharat Ane Nenu', director Siva's male protagonists were humanized to different degrees. In 'Acharya', the titular character behaves like a Mahapurush from the word go. It's not like he should have seemed vulnerable. There should have been a sense of challenge, at least?
Mani Sharma's background music is uneven. His songs are able, and Chiranjeevi nails it in 'Laahe Laahe', 'Bhale Bhale Banjara' and 'Saana Kashtam'. Acting-wise, Charan's performance looks more endearing, thanks to the somewhat lovable characterization. The scene where he walks towards the villain in a jaunty manner as a whistling sound is heard in the background is superb. Wish 'Acharya' had many such enjoyable moments.
Check out the film's trailer below:
