Telugu FIlm 'Shiva Tandavam' Review: Lacks Lustre

Vikram who had a good series of hits in Tollywood has not been able to deliver in the recent past. This time he has come up with yet another venture. Whether he is successful or not, let us see Story Blind many Kenny (Vikram) keeps doing a series of murders in London. The police would be investigating to locate the killer. Why is Kenny doing these murders? What is his past? Well, Kenny’s real name is Shiva Kumar and he is an IPS officer. Kenny’s wife Meenakshi (Anushka) dies in a terrorist attack. And Shiva loses his vision. With that he decides to take revenge on the wrongdoers. He is helped by his friend Arjun (Jagapathi Babu). Whether he is successful or not forms the rest of the story. Performances Vikram has done much better challenging roles than this before. So this is nothing. But the way he owns the character is commendable. Though it is not to his full potential he did full justice to the role. Anushka didn’t have much to offer but wherever she was, she made her presence felt with her beauty. Performance wise she didn’t have much to do. Jagapathi Babu has done a very critical role in this one. He looks handsome and has justified his presence to the fullest. Performance-wise he did his bit as required. Sarah Jackson gave an effective performance. She is pretty and has a cute smile. With the London backdrop, she felt more at home and gave her best. Lakshmi Rai was sexy as usual, Santhanam brought few smiles, Nasser was natural, Sayaji Shinde was standard. Others didn’t have much to do. Highlights Vikram Production values Drawbacks Story Screenplay Direction Analysis Compared to many Tamil films, this is technically a well made product. The highlight is the cinematography. It is not sure why Telugu films shot in foreign countries don’t have that kind of standard but Tamil moviemakers don’t compromise on the quality at all. Background score is good but songs are weak. There are no catchy tunes. The director has taken the movie very well but he didn’t do the basic work in story and screenplay. He wrapped the film with a vague idea. The film looks like a rehashed version of ‘Ghajini’. The difference is, ‘Ghajini’ had a man with short term memory loss and this has a blind man. That ran like a race horse and this ran like a blind horse. The storyline might have excited the director and Vikram but the conviction part of how the blind man will take revenge was neglected. The comedy factor was pretty stale and the attempts to make the audience laugh fizzled out. There is no logic in the movie and the irony is, the hero is an intelligence officer but no intelligence is seen in the way the whole thing has been conceived. Instead of watching the film, it is better to blindfold your eyes and move about in the theatres, that will be more exciting and entertaining. First half is weak and makes you feel drowsy. Second half is okay but still weak. Except for Vikram’s performance there is nothing else in this film.