Bandipotu Movie Review

Story: When Jahnavi approaches Vishwanath, a con man, with an idea to humiliate three people, who wrecked her father’s life, he joins hands with her without any second thoughts. The rest of the film is about how Vishwanath succeeds in his mission.

Movie Review: Mohana Krishna Indraganti’s latest film, Bandipotu almost seems like a con film within a con film, if you pay close attention. While the film itself narrates the story of Vishwanath (Allari Naresh), a youngster who cons three rich, but corrupt people at the behest of Jahnavi (Eesha), it’s the director who pulls the rug out from under you right in front of your eyes. He manages to erase ‘Allari’ from Allari Naresh layer-after-layer quite convincingly, and presents us a brand new actor named Naresh, who is more restrained, subtle and smart. As a result, what we see is an actor trying to break free from his onscreen image and become a sophisticated version of his earlier persona, and this makeover fits the story to the T.

In the film, we are told that Makarandam (Thanikella Bharani), Seshagiri Rao (Rao Ramesh) and Bhale Babu (Posani Krishna Murali) are three rich and corrupt people, who had wrecked the life of Jahnavi’s father (Subhalekha Sudhakar). She approaches Vishwanath to humiliate the three and bring them down. And the rest of the story is about how Vishwanath accomplishes the job. Although there’s one major issue which never lets the film to go the last mile – the story treads on a low-danger and a low-conflict zone, which takes its zing away.

Allari Naresh plays Vishwanath who is way too street-smart for his own good. In fact, Mohana Krishna Indraganti puts this character on a pedestal so high that the chances of him failing in his various tasks are none. In turn, this leaves us to just watch the story unfold without having to even consider how the lead character will overcome the potential threat posed by others. Having said that, it’s also worth mentioning that this is by far one of Allari Naresh’s most restrained performances and he never overshadows the story with his trademark antics or dialogues. Eesha and Sampoornesh Babu play limited roles as the focus is more on how Allari Naresh cons the three corrupt antagonists.

Among the three key subplots in the film, it’s the one which revolves around Rao Ramesh and Allari Naresh that has the best impact. Rao Ramesh has already evolved into one of the finest actors of our times and he puts up yet another impressive show in Bandipotu. Thanikella Bharani and Posani Krishna Murali are good in their respective roles; however, neither of their stories is as gripping as the one featuring Rao Ramesh.

Mohana Krishna Indraganti hits the bulls-eye with his witty dialogues, and so do cinematographer PG Vinda and music director Kalyani Koduri. But if you are looking for a big wow factor, since it was touted as a con drama, then the film leaves a lot to be desired. At a run time of nearly 140 minutes, the film does have its share of laugh-out-loud moments sans any double entendre, apart from reinventing Allari Naresh’s image. Despite all this, the film leaves you wondering if the utter-simplicity with which the protagonist pulls off the con job is a big dampener to the story itself.