Cast: Raj Tarun, Riddhi Kumar, Rajiv Kanakala, Ajay, Sachin Kedekar, Gayatri Bhargvi
Director: Annish Krishna
Upcoming actor Raj Tarun joins hands with director Annish Krishna of Ala Ela fame in his quest for a hit. The female lead Riddhi Kumar makes her debut with Lover, while Dil Raju’s nephew Harshith Reddy is the producer.
Raj (Raj Tarun) is an expert bike mechanic and lives with his brother (Rajiv Kanakala) in Anantapur. Raj suffers a bullet injury and goes to a hospital where he falls in love with a Malayali nurse, Charitha (Riddhi Kumar) at first sight. She initially dislikes Raj but a gesture from him changes her mind. Charitha finds that top officials of the hospital are involved in illegal activities, and becomes the target of a gang from Coimbatore.
Annish Krishna made a mark with the entertaining Ala Ela, and this, along with the association with the Dil Raju production house, gave raise to some expectations. But that is not to be as Krishna’s handling of this routine love story is, well, routine.
The first half is about the two brothers and Raj Tarun trying to impress his lady love. The second half shifts to Coimbatore, the home town of the nurse. There is no novelty.
The only interesting aspect is in the climax featuring Raj Tarun, Riddhi Kumar and a small girl. This involves the use of technology. That’s the only reason why the protagonist is a bike expert.
The story is set in Anantapur, so the artistes speak the local slang but unexpectedly switch to the normal. Raj Tarun does a neat job but there is nothing much to write home about. Debutant Riddhi Kumar is beautiful and actually performs well. Rajiv Kanakala gets a routine character role, Sachin Kedekar plays a cameo without many dialogues. Ajay and Subba Raju have nothing special to offer regular roles.
Cinematography by Sameer Reddy is a highlight. Different music directors composed the songs and a few are catchy. The dialogues are average. It comes as a surprise that a major production house like Dil Raju backed this mediocre script with a routine and predictable narration.
