Angel - Movie Review

'Angel', starring Nag Anvesh and Hebah Patel, hit the screens on Friday (Nov 03). Let's know what works and what doesn't work...

Story:
Nakshatra (Hebbah Patel) is the daughter of Gandharva Raju (Suman in an extended cameo), who lords over the Heaven. She develops an interest in living the life of a human being on Earth. Much against her father's forewarning, she decides to go through the good, bad and ugly in 'Bhoolokam'.

Gandharva Raju curses her to turn into a stone whenever she feels sad in 'Bhoolokam'. But as soon as she meets a good person here, she will turn into human form. The Mr. Perfect, who can give her that human life, is none other than Nani (Nag Anvesh). Together with his friend (played by Saptagiri), Nani befriends her. Thinking that she is the daughter of a rich man, he falls in love with her.

But Nani doesn't know that Nakshatra has other plans. At the interval bang, the scene shifts to a village, where a look-alike of Nakshatra has been missing after a mysterious disappearance, causing agony to her parents. Who is this look-alike named Nandu? How is her destiny tied to that of the angelic Nakshatra? What will Nani now do? That forms the rest of the story.

What is hot?
To an extent, the comic portions involving the main leads, Saptagiri and Prabhas Sreenu, elicit laughs here and there. The bus scene involving Hebah, Nag Anvesh and Priyadarshi, a dimwit medico, is hilarious.

After we come to know the story of Nandu, you get scared that the film might turn into another formulaic family entertainer, following the template of a 'Kalisundam Raa' or a 'Nenu Sailaja'. Thankfully, that doesn't happen.

When a magical amulet ends up being worn by the wrong kind of people in the climax, it leads to a lot of confusion as the villains (played by Pradeep Rawat and Sayaji Shinde) behave in a strange way. These scenes are pretty ordinary, but at least there is no room for old-fashioned sentimentality here. The audiences have been spared.

Nag Anvesh has the potential to impress the audience if offered a meaty script. His screen presence is fairly good.

What is not?
The story is a rehash of a number of double-action flicks. Imagine the 'khaidi' Chiranjeevi in 'Khaidi No. 150' coming from heaven and fighting the cause of the other Chiranjeevi. That's the plot of 'Angel' for you.

The comedy doesn't pack the punch. Tagubothu Ramesh and a couple of other faces don't even make an impact. A number of comedy scenes rely on the slapstick abilities of Sapthagiri.

In one scene, Nakshatra unconsciously kicks the comedian in her sleep. This is how you show an angel? Where did she learn her English accent? Are there tutorials for English classes in Swargam too? Gone are the days when the 'paralokapu' girls used to speak in 'granthikam'.

The hero's involvement in Nakshatra's mission is kept at its bare minimum.

Don't know what the director was thinking when he depicted Pradeep Rawat's villainy. Even 90's-era villains had better lines and dimensions up their sleeve. For much of the time, Shayaji Shinde is just fooling around. Hebah Patel, who is playing the titular role, is surprisingly uninvolved. She is touch-me-not-like in the village backdrop. The makers had claimed that the CG work is pretty much awesome. Truth to be told, the graphics are of low quality.

Bottom-line: 'Angel' is a formulaic socio-fantasy-comedy with no surprises in store. The hero's characterization suffers in the second half. Poor visuals, outdated villainy and a largely uninspiring comedy fail it.