‘Mirpakaya’ typical Ravi Teja movie, but enjoyable (Telugu Movie Review)

Film: “Mirpakaya”; Cast: Ravi Teja, Richa Gangopadhyay, Deeksha Sethu, Prakash Raj, Sunil, Kota, Ajay, Brahmaji, Naga Babu, Chandra Mohan and others; Director: Harish Shankar; Producer: Ramesh Puppala; Music Director: Taman; Camera: C. Rama Prasad; Rating: ** 1/2

Director Harish Shankar’s latest offering “Mirpakaya” (Chillies) is nothing but a stereotyped film of Ravi Teja. If you have been watching Ravi Teja movies like “Don Seenu”, “Dubai Seenu” or “Kick”, you may not find anything different or any freshness in the narration.

But it should not be assumed that the film fails mainly because of the monotony. The film may look repetitive, but the viewers may find it reasonably enjoyable because of the fantastic screen presence of the energetic star. He is on the wrong side of the forties, but you don’t see any actor in the Telugu or even in the neighbouring film industries come up with so much variety in dialogue delivery, action, comedy and dance.

Ravi Teja’s films can be compared to Shammi Kapoor’s movies of the 1960s which were essentially enjoyable on screen thanks to good songs and hilarious sequences, but lacked substance or a logical plot. But Shammi fans did not get bored of seeing his routine stuff again and again and so is the case with Ravi Teja’s fans.

Harish Shankar, who did different film Ravi Teja called “Shock”, seems to have learnt his lessons. Therefore decided to stick to the successful formula than to experiment with a new genre for the lanky actor who can entertain people whenever he shows up on screen. Shankar prepared a script that perfectly suits Ravi Teja’s body language and his mimicking abilities.

The story seems like a mix of Shah Rukh Khan starrer “Main Hoon Na”, a couple of Korean films and some previous movies of Ravi Teja. Chances are Shankar may well succeed in luring audience with his latest attempt.

Shankar has not taken interest in providing a cutting edge to the film by his writing or giving a neat characterisation to the roles performed by two heroines or the villain role played by Prakash Raj.

Thaman’s music are not a patch on his earlier work. The dialogues are not excellent, but some are good and has punch such as - “You can purchase a sword by paying Rs.10, but can’t purchase the courage and dynamism to use the weapon effectively.”

Rishi, an undercover agent working for an intelligence agency, is sent to Hyderabad to investigate an under cover operation. He starts off as a Hindi lecturer in a college where Vaishali, daughter of a Don Kittu Bhai studies.

Rishi is in love Vinamra. How Rishi succeeds in his mission by befriending Vaishali and nab Kittu Bhai forms the rest of the plot.

Ravi Teja makes a strong impact with his towering presence. He does a fine job in comedy sequences shown in college and also in action scenes. Richa Gangopadhyay has still to learn many things and her pairing with Ravi Teja doesn’t look good on screen. Deeksha Seth looks glamorous.

Sunil and Ali evoke laughter, while Kota and Chandra Mohan fit in their roles perfectly. Prakash Raj is as usual superb as a don though his characterisation looks similar in most of the Telugu films released recently.

Despite its flaws, “Mirpakaya” will be thoroughly enjoyed by Ravi Teja’s fans. For others, it may well be a time pass film.