Bluff Master - Movie Review

Bluff Master', starring Satyadev in the lead, hit the screens this Friday. Here is our review of the thriller.

Story:
Utham Kumar (Satyadev) is a serial con man known for his special intelligence when it comes to hoodwinking the gullible, among them big shots. During one such scam, he bumps into Avani (Nanditha Swetha), a polar opposite to whom money means nothing and humanism is everything. When a scam backfires, the hero falls in trouble. A bloodthirsty goonda (played by Adithya Menon) is now a threat in his life. This is also when Uttham Kumar gets a jolt after a court case.
The rest of the film is about how Uttham seeks to turn a new leaf in his life and whether he can do it in the face of some unavoidable threats.

Analysis:

Director Gopi Ganesh borrows the story from Tamil-language film 'Sethuranga Vettai'; this is official remake. They have called 'Bluff Master' a heist thriller. Truth to be told, there is not even an iota of thrill anywhere in the screenplay. As for so-called heists, most of them are at the level of 'Jabardasth' skits.  Call them funny con jobs, not heists.

It all begins with the hero fooling a rich money-lender (comedian Prudhvi) into believing that a snake weighing 4 kg holds supernatural powers. He makes him buy it for Rs 10 lakh, tells him it can understand 200 languages, asks him not to talk in front of it as its weight will come down if he does. After fooling the victim with more lies and extracting lakhs of rupees for two more days, the hero flees from the scene. It would have been forgivable had the film moved ahead from this level of the screenplay. No, it goes on and on with bland ideas like this one till the climax.

There is this gold scam that the hero invents and executes with so much ease. This episode is so full of loopholes that the presence of a comedy cop makes it an unpardonably lazy idea.

The romantic track literally tests the patience every time Avani (Nandita Swetha) opens her mouth to speak like an angel who never grew up. When the lead pair crosses paths in the second half, we are bombarded with clichéd ideas.

The film needed fresh con jobs. It has got only juvenile ones. Secondly, the police investigation (Sijju as an ACP) episode is plain. Thirdly, the film needed a hero who shows cunning attitude with ease. Satyadev keeps a consistently sophisticated, white-collar employee's expression. His voice is suave. There is no pain in him. The protaganist's change of heart occurs too convenient for the script. Aditya Menon and others are wasted in ill-written roles.

Sunil Kashyap's music doesn't make any impact. The BGM is poor. Dasaradhi Sivendra's cinematography doesn't show any sparks. Navin Nooli's editing is average. The striking part of the movie is dialogues written by Pulagam Chinnarayana and Gopi Ganesh. There are some clever lines.

Bottom line: 'Bluff Master' is an almost predictable remake. Characterizations are not at all smart. The performances are superficial. Except dialogues, everything goes in lethargic manner.