Bruce Lee The Fighter - Movie Review

What's it about?

Karthi (Ram Charan), a stunt master working in movie field, he can do anything for his sister (Kriti), he also sacrifices many things from childhood for her.  His middle class father's (Rao Ramesh) aim is to make his daughter an IAS officer and he owes to make her by arranging her best education facilities. He believes that Karthi is poor at studies and is fit for nothing and encourages his daughter. Although it is Karthi who helps getting her seat in a good coaching center, buys laptop, and provides money, his father thinks all are getting done because of his daughter’s talent and luck. His sister gets engaged to his father's company owner's (Sampath and Nadiya) son. On the other hand, he gets attracted to a video game developer Riya (Rakul). One day, his sister falls in a big problem.  How Karthi solves the issue forms the rest of the story.

Analysis:

Sreenu Vaitla who wanted to break-away from his regular style of narration that puts more thrust on comedy than the story has made Bruce Lee to prove a point to everyone. First half of Bruce Lee confirms that he is trying to do things differently within formulaic setup of a big hero movie with more drama happening between father and son, brother and sister, plus some action episodes and romantic track with heroine but not resorting to comedy track.

Despite some routine scenes, the first half is decent. Ram Charan's excellent dance steps in the songs that come here also keep us entertained.

Post interval, Vaitla falls on the same pattern – brings in Brahmanandam and other comedians, adds Dookudu and Aagadu  kind of situations, and hero fooling villain by joining hands with him. Entire second half seems clichéd. Comedy by Brahmi falls flat, the hero-villain confrontation scenes too are run-of-the-mill, and the climax sequences are hurried. Except Chiranjeevi’s episode that comes towards end of the movie, the total second half puts you off. A neat commercial family entertainer turns into lackluster action drama in the end.

Like most of Vaitla’s heroes, Ram Charan is also presented in two different shades and the star has pulled them off with ease. His mannerisms like ‘elegelaga’, style and performance reminds us of young Chiranjeevi. He is also is good in emotional sequences. His dances are major highlight. His brief interaction with Chiru in the end is also nice.

No one can beat Chiranjeevi. Even though he appears for brief moments, he lifts the mood with his charm. He is still has that amazing screen presence. Despite keeping away from arc lights for six years, he is not out of form. “There is only time gap, but timing is still perfect,” he mouths dialogue.

Rakul is there only for songs. Kriti as sister is apt. Sampat Raj and Jayaprakash Reddy (in dual role) shine. There are host of actors like Nadiya, Tisca Chopra, Mukesh Rishi, Brahmaji but they all are wasted. The comedians gang - Brahmi, Vennela Kishore, and Saptagiri have  failed to generate laughs.

The film is rich with high production values and good visuals. The one technician who deserves more appreciation is S S Thaman - his songs are catchy and background score is also good. Le Chalo and Mega Meter are pick of the lot. They are also shot nicely with awesome dance steps. Cinematography by Manoj Paramhamsa is slick. Editing is pretty bad. His sharp cutting spoils the emotional mood in sentiment scenes. As writer and director, Srinu Vaitla seems to be in confusion mode.

Bottom-line: Chiranjeevi appearing in the climax in his real life character of a movie star, Charan dancing like a dream in songs, and a decent first half are only saving grace of this run-of-the-mill movie.