Funky Movie Review: Irritating spoof on producer-director relationship

Director: Anudeep
Rating: 1.5/5 stars

Producer Naga Vamsi has probably okayed this spoof on Telugu cinema since he has been in the industry for over a decade. Funky revolves around a Telugu film producer (Naresh) who suffers endlessly at the hands of an inept director played by Vishwak Sen. The stress even lands the producer with a heart attack.

The director character is shown as neither talented nor sensible. He blindly copies love scenes from old films and is such a dimwit that he doesn’t even know how to propose to his lady love. He survives purely by hoodwinking people around him. Meanwhile, the producer’s daughter (Kayadu Lohar) attempts to revive the stalled film and inexplicably ends up falling in love with the flop director.

Director Anudeep fills the screenplay with less logic and more jokes, but only a handful manage to evoke laughs. There is no engaging story to back the humour, and the film ultimately makes a mockery of the relationship between struggling directors and big producers in the industry. Even Dil Raju is shown mocking Vishwak Sen when he approaches him with a script.

Anudeep, who made a solid mark with Jathi Ratnalu and rocked the box office, completely misfires this time. His comic caper turns out to be a damp squib and tests the audience’s patience throughout. The supposed love story between Vishwak Sen and Kayadu Lohar falls flat as it looks forced rather than organic, and the romantic songs fail to enthuse.

Young actor Vishwak Sen, already going through a lean patch with a series of duds like Laila and Mechanic Rowdy, hoped to bounce back with this laugh riot. Instead, Funky ends up being another disappointment and a lacklustre addition to his filmography. Kayadu Lohar, who impressed in Dude, looks pretty on screen, but her role is poorly etched. Naresh, Sampath Raj, Kalyan Shankar, and Anudeep merely go through the motions.

There is no denying that Anudeep was once hailed as a specialist in comedy with Jathi Ratnalu. However, that film had the backing and guidance of director Nag Ashwin and strong performers like Naveen Polishetty, Priyadarshi, and Rahul Ramakrishna to carry it to the winning post. This time, Anudeep teams up with Vishwak Sen, who, despite having decent comic timing, comes across as stiff. His body language doesn’t suit a laugh riot, and the humour fails to land.