Mana Shankara VaraPrasad Garu, produced jointly by Shine Screens and Gold Box Entertainments, hits the cinemas. In this section, we are going to review the latest BO release.
Plot:
Meet Shankara Vara Prasad (Chiranjeevi), a razor-sharp security maestro who protects a Central Minister. He is a divorced man carrying the weight of six empty years, haunted by the absence of his wife Sasirekha (Nayanthara) and the two children who now go to a boarding school. He gets back into their orbit by design. His new assignment? Protect GVR (Sachin Khedekar), the ultra-rich, ultra-powerful father-in-law he barely speaks to anymore.
Performances & Technical Departments:
While Waltair Veerayya tapped into a more robust, energetic version of Chiranjeevi, the film under review lets him channel his family hero self as seen in films like Chantabbai. That was the intent from the beginning and Chiru embraces the characterization with total love for the role.
Nayanthara is not a tokenistic female lead; she gets more importance than she got in Sye Raa, her previous outing with the Megastar. Although she looks somewhat older for a "commercial" heroine at first, once we know she is a mom of two, everything makes sense. Sachin Khedekar is good in the first half, especially in the scene where he belittles the titular character by singing a folk song. Venkatesh enjoys himself re-entering the world of a filmmaker who gave him two blockbusters. Zarina Wahab has an effective scene with Nayanthara.
Despite a full-fledged presence, Harshavardhan and Abhinav Gomatam don't get to unveil new versions of themselves. Sukhdev Nair's character is important and he might land more offers in Telugu after this movie. Raghu Babu, Srinivas Reddy, Harsha Chemudu (in a cameo), and Sharat Saxena (as a Minister) are seen in different roles.
Bheems Ceciroleo's background score is effective, elevating the "Boss". Hook Step is hoot-worthy on the big screen. The uber-popular Meesaala Pilla lands well. Sameer Reddy's cinematography is so-so. The production values are decent.
Post-Mortem:
Chiranjeevi's Vara Prasad is a fun-loving security expert whose simmering distress is established nicely in the initial portions, thereby justifying his aggressive behaviour with Sasirekha's father. He is disliked by his own children and, as a coping mechanism, he likes to be surrounded by sycophants who occasionally expose his lack of wit. He is sick of a TV serial that mirrors his boring life.
Sasirekha is a business magnate who has moved on thoroughly. The presumed finality of her separation and the inevitability of her reunion with Vara Prasad would have looked jarring in a relationship drama. But then, this film is anything but a serious breakup-patchup story. It's a plot-agnostic relationship comedy that shouldn't be taken too seriously. The fairy tale union-separation-misunderstanding trajectory is pretty stale at the idea level. The script's obvious deficiencies are undone by the arresting performances by the lead pair.
Whenever the proceedings turn dramatic, Ravipudi falls back on his strengths. Master Revanth of Sankranthiki Vasthunam fame is Sugunesh, a heavy junk food-eater. He is introduced just when the sentimentality surrounding the hero's children starts feeling weighty. No trope is allowed to linger for too long. The short episode where Vara Prasad goes hunting for a missing dog would have bordered on the mundane in a bad film.
Despite the cliches that keep coming in, the graph doesn't crash. The Vara Prasad vs. GVR track is energized through the folk poem idea. It's because of this kind of writing that you don't get impatient about the richest industrialist not getting to decide who should guard him.
The film's gender politics, however, are problematic. Wives are shown as abusers of gender-sensitive laws, while abusive husbands are given a clean chit. The second half syndrome, too, is evident. Like almost all Anil Ravipudi movies, the second hour is not as engaging as the first half. The final ten minutes is almost ridiculous; the climax is just a formality.
Closing Remarks:
Mana Shankara VaraPrasad is a quintessential "family hero" vehicle for Chiranjeevi, blending his comedic timing with Anil Ravipudi’s signature brand of humor. While the plot follows a predictable, trope-heavy trajectory of separation and reunion, the film stays afloat thanks to the arresting chemistry between the lead pair and high-energy musical moments.
