Cash (Telugu) Review

Murphy's law states that if something is stupid and it works, it ain't stupid. Cash is downright stupid and outright dumb, but it works. So going back to Murphy, it ain't stupid, after all.

Cash is one of those comedies with a downmarket crew, an out-of-market director and outrageous costumes, but at the end of the day it succeeds in eliciting a smile here, a grin there, half a chuckle here and a quarter chortle there. So there, Cash is not as much of trash as it seems.

But before you call the Justdial movie tickets, let us remind you there are 300 more words to go before you can decide your weekend schedule. Cash is based on the 'it's-all-about-money-honey' premise. Chiranjeevi and Pawan Kalyan (played by Gemini and Teja, debutants) are two smartass lazy bums who dream of getting rich (hence their names) the easy way. Their dream comes true in Aishwarya Ashram, home for the handicapped, where physically challenged persons are given a chance to manage the home financially.

The ashram is the brainchild of Aishwarya (Zeenath), Miss World (promise, she is). Unlike some Namuna Miss Indias and Miss Worlds like Sush and Ash who talk about caring and sharing and then go about baring and daring on the silver screen, this Aishwarya means every word of what she says. Proof of her words is the setting up of the ashram.

Chiru and Pawan decide to freeload at the ashram for sometime pretending to be handicapped, and when the right time comes, scoot with the booty there. While Chiru pretends to be blind, Pawan tries his deaf act. Each one is secretly trying to impress Aishwarya and of course gain the reigns of the finances. But that's not easy as they get a whiff of each other's fake identities. Chiru as a TV freak and Pawan as a music buff find it hard to stick to their identities, and that's where the movie gives you the first round of laughs.

Trouble begins when Aishwarya's evil uncle Purushottam and his sweetheart Sakkubai (Tanikella and Apoorva) too are eyeing the same money. Enter the crack Swot team comprising Tom & Jerry (Mohan and Surya of Show fame) and gangster Yadav (Rami Reddy), and the ashram becomes a colossal chaos with high-funda gameplans, freakish strategies and hilarious ideas. A second round of laughs here.

It's a comedy of errors throughout. How the baddies get a taste of their own bitter medicine and how the two chaps manage to impress Aishwarya is the rest of the story.

While the names of the main cast read like the entries in 'Baby Name Finder' and refuse to ring a bell, the two guys are surprisingly neat. They talk, emote and even look confident. Looks wise too they manage to pass muster. But Zeenath, who plays Miss World, is a goner - in looks and in work. She looks like she has missed the world by a good one decade and is catching up on the lost time.

Apoorva as the buxom belle, with her outrageous costumes, is for the cheap thrills. Surya as the chap with a long sight (for all his super spy skills, he can't see things that are closer than five feet) and his bumchum with a fetish for touch create a racket and keep the movie in motion. Except for a raunchy folk number (by Sarangapani who died last month), there is nothing that even remotely sounds like music. Ravi Chavali (who gave us horrors such as Bachelors and College previously) has made no special attempts to really fit in the regular romance angle, and that's a relief. At least somebody is trying to be different!

Cash, with its share of cheap jokes, eccentric characters and PJs is a stupid movie. But then, it all depends on how much stupidity you can tolerate.