Star Entertainment Pvt. Ltd.’s Policegiri (UA) is yet another story about an honest police officer taking on criminals including politicians. Rudra Pratap Devraj (Sanjay Dutt) is an upright deputy commissioner of police posted in Nagapuram police station on the border of Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. He is rough and tough and has been shunted out of many police stations in different parts of the country due to his honesty. This time, he decides to accept bribes so that he is not transferred, but his primary motive is to cleanse Nagapuram of criminals. Nagori Subramaniam (Prakash Raj) calls himself a politician maker and has the support of many MPs and MLAs. He indulges in all sorts of illegal activities and becomes the target of Rudra.
Rudra accepts bribes from Nagori while simultaneously trying to end his illegal activities. However, Nagori is a very powerful man and uses all his connections to frustrate Rudra’s actions. What happens ultimately? Is Rudra successful or does Nagori expose him for the bribes he has taken? Does the system support Nagori or Rudra?
The film is a remake of Tamil hit Sami. K.S. Ravikumar’s screenplay lacks novelty as one has seen a number of films with similar screenplays. The few elements of novelty which exist in the screenplay aren’t of the kind which would register as differentiating factors to an average film-goer. The drama is very loud – like the background score – and this will add to the monotony of the class and multiplex audience. However, the loud drama and the excessive violence will please the masses and single-screen cinema audiences. Romance is very subdued and comedy is not of the kind which would make the audience laugh. No doubt, there are some light scenes which may bring a smile on the viewer’s face but they are few and far between. Emotions are conspicuous by their absence. Resultantly, the film rests on violence, action and stunts to please the audience but since there is an overdose of violence, the appeal of the film gets restricted to the masses mainly. Ladies, families and classes would actually be put off by the excessive violence and bloodshed. Further, for the action to have had the desired impact universally, it should have been backed by a strong undercurrent of emotions and drama. Climax should have been far more exciting.
Farhad-Sajid’s dialogues are mass-appealing and entertaining but only for the masses, that too, not consistently so.
Sanjay Dutt has done a fair job but he seems to have been in a hurry to complete the work. He looks a bit too old to play the over-zealous and energetic police officer and his protruding abdomen only adds to the age factor. Some of his action scenes also seem to have been shot in a tearing hurry. His dances are quite weak. Prachi Desai is okay as Rudra’s girlfriend, Sehar. Prakash Raj does his villainy with a tinge of comedy very effectively. He is entertaining. Rajpal Yadav acts ably but his comedy is quite irritating. As his sidekick, Rajat Rawail is not funny. Manoj Joshi gets very little scope and is alright. Mukesh Tiwari and Murali Sharma go through their roles with the usual earnestness. Om Puri is quite nice as the commissioner of police. Ehsaan Khan, Raju Mavani, Arun Bali, Ganesh Acharya, and Kavita Verma (in an item song-dance) provide ordinary support. The others pass muster.
K.S. Ravikumar’s direction and narrative style cater to the masses only. Music is more functional than anything else. ‘Banda good hai’, composed by Anjjan-Meet Bros., is the pick of the lot for its racy tune and mass-appealing lyrics (Shabbir Ahmed). Choreography of the romantic song (by Brinda) looks like a job done with great aid from computer graphics. Choreography of the other songs (by Ganesh Acharya) is ordinary. Amar Mohile’s background music is just too loud and gets on the audience’s nerves after some time. N.K. Ekhambram’s camerawork is effective. Kanal Kannan and Stunt Shiva’s action scenes lend thrill but only at places. Some action scenes and stunts are devoid of thrill. Yet, overall, the action and stunts are definitely mass-appealing. Sets (Priya Suhas) are okay. Samjith’s editing is average.
On the whole, Policegiri is a routine action fare which has some chance among the masses mainly, but that won’t be enough to recover the investment in the film. Business in single-screen cinemas and smaller centres will be okay but that in the multiplexes and big cities will be way below the mark.
Released on 5-7-’13 at Eros (daily 1 show), New Excelsior (daily 2 shows), Metro Big (daily 3 shows) and other cinemas of Bombay thru VIP Movies India Ltd. Publicity: very good. Opening: dull in multiplexes, okay in single-screen cinemas. …….Also released all over. Opening was fair in single-screen cinemas, especially in U.P., Bihar, C.P.C.I. Rajasthan, but weak in multiplexes