Movie:     DHONI - Not out

Rating:    3.25/5

Banner:   Duet Movies

Director: Prakash Raj

Many of the Telugu audiences knew Prakash Raj as a versatile artiste but he is also a good producer who produced a number of Tamil films. Though he directed a film, Abhiyum Nanum (Akasamantha in Telugu) earlier, it did not go well in Tamil. However, his urge to direct a film did not die. In this process, he had watched a Marathi film and he liked a point in it. Already, he had a similar thoughts in his mind when he watched his daughter while she studying Class IX and this Marathi film is very near to his thoughts and he bought rights of the film. He had prepared the script and is looking for a boy who could play the lead role and at this juncture, he happened to see Akash, Puri Jagannath’s son. He narrated the story to him. Akash replied in positive and said it is his story as he wanted to become a hero, while his parents are forcing him to study. Like this the film took shape. Let us see how it goes.
 

STORY:
Subrahmanyam (Prakash Raj) is a middle-class man, who always runs for money doing all sorts of works right from dawn to dusk to bring up his daughter Kaveri (Sriteja) and Karthick (Akash) give them good education. However, Karthick wants to become a good cricketer and doesn’t want to study MBA. While Subrahmanyam joins him in a good school, Akash fails in most of the subjects and the school principal calls up his father saying, his son is spoiling the reputation of their school. However, Karthick is all praise by his cricket coach (Nazar) as he made the school as a champion.
Kaveri often spends time with Nalini (Radhika Apte). Accidentally Subbu gets to know that Nalini earns her living through prostitution and strictly orders his daughter to stay away from her. As Karthick was poor in studies, the principal tells Subbu to take his son out. Immediately Subbu takes Karthick away from cricket coaching and made him to go a series of tuition classes. Karthik fails to cope up with studies even after leaving cricket which makes Subbu to lose his patience and beat him up. In the process, he gets his back portion of his head which his the floor and Subbu gets arrested by police in an attempt to murder case.Nalini brings Subbu out of jail and pay hospital bills of Karthick through her political influence. Subbu, with the Nalini’s assistance takes his son Karthick to his favourite places as per doctor’s suggestion to bring him out of coma. Finally, Subbu realizes that his son is dreamt of becoming a cricketer and it was he who forced him to undergo studies. Now, the rest of the story deals with as to how Subbu made his son realize his life’s ambition. It is really a surprise that Prakash Raj’s directorial abilities were showcased in giving a lots of twists towards the climax.
 
PERFORMANCE:
As usual Prakashraj gave an excellent performance all through the movie, though such roles are not new to him. Radhika Apte played opposite Prakash Raj’s neighbour. Mugdha Godse played another heroine in the film. Gollapudi Maruti Rao, Melkote, Talaivasal Vijay played Prakash Raj’s friends and did justice to their roles. Prabhu Deva played a cameo for a song in the movie, while Dhoni made a special guest appearance. It is Murali Sharma and Nazar, who played an equal important roles after Prakash Raj in this movie as cricket coach and teacher. Above all, Akash who played the hero in the film gave an extraordinary performance. May be it is because he is watching films made by his father and others and is very close to the film industry or because of Puri Jagannath’s blood, he got very good acting skills. Of course, his real urge to become a hero in films provoked him to give such a wonderful performance all through the film. If he could show, so much variations in moods as a child artiste, he would definitely had all the chances to become a very good artiste.
 
TECHNICAL:
Though Prakash Raj had the idea to narrate the subject to the audiences, he is just a novice in directing a film. However, the cinematographer KV Guhan and editor Kishore Te helped him in different ways in explaining the subject on the screen. Prakash Raj was so fortunate for having such a good technical team and it is Prabhudeva who added spice to the film. Illayaraja’s background score elevated the scenes while his songs were so melodious and make the audiences humming even after the song is over and after returning from the theatre. Moreover, an experienced producer like Dil Raju must have helped his friend in giving good ideas in maintaining good production values in the film, as Prakashraj himself produced both the Telugu and Tamil versions. When it comes to direction, the film goes on as if it is going in a middle class locality and Prakashraj aptly picturised the scenes very interestingly as he had a lots of experiences as he acted in a number of films and also produced a number of Tamil films.
 
REMARKS:
Undoubtedly, the film would entertain the audiences and none of the audiences would get a feel that he had spent money on the ticket unnecessarily as it did not go waste. For a director and producer, such feel is enough to get satisfaction. Moreover, the audiences would definitely recommend his neighbors to watch the film without fail and this mouth talk is enough for the commercial success of the film.
 
Cast: Prakash Raj, Mugdha Godse, Akash (Puri Jagannath’s son), Radhika Apte, Nazar, Tenikella Bharani, Brahmanandam, Murali Sharma, Gollapudi Maruthi Rao, Melkote, Hema, Talaivasal Vijay, Ananth, Kasturi Suchi, Sriteja, Prabhu Deva (guest), Dhoni (cameo)

Credits: Cinematography – KV Guhan, Editing – Kishore Te, Lyrics – Sirivennela Sitaramasastry, Music – Illayaraja, Producer – Prakash Raj Productions, Story and direction – Prakash Raj.
 

Banner: Duet Movies
Released on: February 10, 2012