Radhika Rajamani reviews the Telugu film, Don Seenu.
Ravi Teja is able to deliver the same 'comical action' true to his image film after film. It requires a certain ability to persistently do the same thing and Ravi Teja does it with panache. He's been tasting success most of the time with his similar format films. Perhaps that's why he chooses 'mass' scripts in order to fully entertain.
Debutant director Gopichand Malineni seems to be fully aware of Ravi Teja's image and has written a perfect script for the actor with Don Seenu. And Ravi Teja just flourishes again in Don Seenu giving the masses paisa vasool with a mundane and mindless storyline.
The character Don Seenu is a 'take-off' from Amitabh Bachchan's Don. Seenu (Ravi Teja) styles himself as Don Seenu after being inspired by Big B's Don which he has seen 30 plus times from the age of five. He considers Amitabh as guru and keeps mouthing the dialogues from his films (in Hindi of course). He also wears a t-shirt with the Big B's picture on it!
Such is his don fixation that he even has Don Seenu tattooed on his hand and refuses to answer if somebody calls him by his name Seenu! This self-styled don who runs away from home goes to Hyderabad in order to fulfill his desire to become a don.
In Hyderabad, Don Seenu runs into two other dons -- Madhapur Machineni (Sayaji Shinde) and Narsing (Srihari) -- who are rivals constantly trying to outdo the other. The third player is Duggal (Mahesh Manjrekar). The two Hyderabadi dons always try to get into Duggal's camp and therefore look for opportunities. In one incident at a pub, Duggal's son Praveen is hit by Ravi Teja and that sets the ball rolling for his journey.
What follows in the first half is full on fun with Don Seenu trying to entertain through twists and turns. He even goes to Germany to befriend Deepti (Shriya Saran) and in the process runs into Priya (Anjana Sukhani) who is Deepti's friend. The film is a roller-coaster ride with enough romance (songs shot in Barcelona, Switzerland), some mushy sentiments (in the climax) and heavy action (some of it is orchestrated well).
There are portions when one feels the film is deliberately stretched. The dons hardly look like baddies.
The story, per se, is thin and there is nothing new in it, but director Gopichand ensures a screenplay which is engrossing. And in the process gives doses of humour (thanks to Ali, Venu Madhav and Brahmanandam) which is bearable to some extent. The dialogues are punchy but are full of double entendres. Gopichand succeeds in packaging the film well for the masses.
The film rests on Ravi Teja despite the presence of others. In Don Seenu, he is in full form. Shriya looks glamorous and gorgeous. Coming back to Telugu cinema after a hiatus, Shriya manages to sustain attention though she doesn't have much to do. Anjana Sukhani looks pretty but has a small role. Sayaji Shinde, Srihari (who utters 'Telangana' style dialogues), Mahesh Manjrekar, Ali, Venu Madhav, Raghu Babu and Brahmanandam deliver what is expected of them.
The film has been shot well by Sameer Reddy. Mani Sharma's music sounds okay but the songs don't have a lingering effect.
Don Seenu is an out and out commercial potboiler which provides mindless entertainment. It's Ravi Teja's show all the way!
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