PUSHPA : THE RISE
Review by ME - Himanshu
๏ปฟโPushpa, I hate tears is passรฉ. The millennium version is : โPushpa naam sunke flower samjhe kya? Flower nahi, fire hai main, Jhukunga nahi โ. Of course, the original in Telugu carries a lot more punch, uttered nonchalantly by swashbuckling, albeit lop-sided Allu Arjun, who simply blazes like fire as he reprises his role with a swagger, style, a hideous wig, the works.
Honestly, this Budget our Finance Minister could very well take tips on how to consolidate GST and earn money from our own ruffian hero Mr. Lop-sided, as his daring strategies and planning to form a syndicate and earn commissions, shows a clever brain ticking beneath the hideous wig.
The plot seems dated, with rival gangs gleefully severing and slicing a couple of heads with the ease of a Master Chef contestant carving lamb racks as they hurry in their pressure test.
The blood โn gore drama is set in thickly wooded forest ranges of Andhra. The story revolves around warring factions, who make a killing smuggling contraband red sandalwood which is in great demand. Enter our hero Mr. Lopsided, who begins as a coolie and soon rises with his native intelligence and street smart ways. He learns the tricks of the trade and soon is able to cut hefty deals. His love interest is Srivalli, played by Rashmika in a village belleโs costume. Her role is nothing great to writ about, except for her song โSamy, Samyโฆโ. And, I still canโt figure out why we had to watch Samanthaโs convulted movements which is in direct contrast to the lyrics. We have our Miley Cyrus to perform and quite competently at that. Of course, itโs entirely the young ladyโs prerogative to sign up for such item numbers.
As we come to the climax, we see a tough, intense and eccentric cop, Fahadh, entering the scene. And he makes the mistake of making nasty comments on the touchy subject of Mr. Lop-sidedโs antecedents; which is enough to bring forth the hellhound in him, just before his marriage to Srivalli.
All in all itโs an entertaining movie, which makes one forget the virus for a while. As itโs released on OTT platforms, the movie seems to be raking a lot of moolah, just like the characters who go about with wads of currency, nay a worry about demonetisation. It might be rather naive of me, searching for a message raising eco concerns, in the din. But that probably would be nudged in between in sequel : Pushpa - The Second Interval. Probablyโฆ period.
Being Allu Arjunโs movie, whoโs a spiffy dancer himself, we have a slipper slipping step, which has become quite a rage. Why, even David Warner and family are seen copying the iconic moves on Instagram. Full credit to Sid Sriram for his rendering the Srivalli song. As he rises the pitch to Srivalli, the notes touch stratosphere and the listener is able to really appreciate his strong base Carnatic Music.