Rating: 2/5Cast : Daggubati Rana, Genelia, Subba Raju, Brahmanandam, etc..
Directed by : Prakash Toleti
Produced by : Paruchuri Kiriti
Banner : United Movies Banner
Music : Chakri
Release Date : 2012-03-23
After having two warm up sessions as an actor, Rana Daggubati gained in confidence to shoulder a commercial entertainer that demands him to do the essential things to turn into a star. Naa Ishtam is Rana's first ever commercial movie and that is the only thing to state about this film. Other than that it is a badly made boring romantic film with silly logics and stupid screenplay. Know the full details in the review..
Story:
This film is about a selfish person named Ganesh, played by Rana. He falls in love with Krishna Veni (Genelia) after so much drama, which has to be seen on the screen. He is aware of the fact that she is in love with another person. But he fall in love with her and for this sole reason he stands between the lovers as an obstacle. His only mission is to stop the lovers from meeting so that he gets a chance to win her love. How does he operate this mission sums up the story.
Performances:
Rana Daggubati tried his level best to fit into the shoes of a jovial and energetic character which has some negatively positive ideologies. Despite his sincere efforts Rana failed to convince us with his performance. He is wooden faced and hardly emotes. Even the basic expressions like happiness and sorrow look artificial on him. Thanks to his giant frame, he looks good and effortless in action episodes. He tried his hand at dances, but less said is better about his moves. Rana needs to learn the basics of acting if he wants to make a career as an actor.
Genelia is fine as the female lead. Thankfully she hasn't gone overboard this time. Harsha is just okay as Genelia's lover. He too doesn't know to act. Rest of the star cast is given unnecessary build up, but turn into mere puppets. Brahmanandam fails to provide laughs and so does Ali. Baddie Shawar Ali is a complete waste. Raviteja's brother Bharath does a cameo which works to some extent.
On the Technical Front:
Naa Ishtam doesn't boast of great technical values. Editing and Cinematography are just about okay. There is nothing worth mentioning about these departments. Music by Chakri is passable. O Sathiya song stands out. But the song is placed too late in the film that audience finds tough to stick to their seats at this point. Background score is not bad. The film is not lavishly made. Despite being shot in Malaysia, it didn't look rich enough.
Director Prakash handled the scenes in Mandapeta very well. But there is sort of hurriedness in the scenes canned in Malaysia. His script is half baked and the screenplay is pretty bad. Being a protege of Sukumar, he should have come up with brilliant scenes. But it looks like he doesn't possess those special skills of his guru.
Analysis:
Naa Ishtam starts on an ordinary note and stays the same throughout the first hour. There are few watchable sequences in between. The scenes involving Bharath are good. A spicy item song also is placed at this point which works well to keep the interest flowing. Even the interval twist works a bit.
Taking the story forward from that point turned out to be the biggest problem for the director. He couldn't narrate the story in a convincing way and the hero character's motives are not told properly. Director is left in a state of confusion about how to deal with the characters. He failed to show the right and wrong sides of his principal characters.
Besides that confusion, the director seems very weak in the comedy department and further dampened the prospects of the film. He didn't even develop the characters well for the audience to connect with them. Naa Ishtam might have worked if the director worked on the screenplay and characterizations.
Too much escapism in the second hour by placing so many action scenes and a nonsensical villain shows that the director lost the grip on the narrative. Only few moments holds the interest in the first hour and rest of the film is a big yawn. We don't recommend this film to our viewers. Rest is 'your wish'.
Final word: Nothing 'likeable'!