Nijam Review

If you've ever tackled a Teja movie before, you have already got your lesson in frustration. With Nijam all of this will change. Nijam makes us to take back all the spiteful, sleazy stuff we've said against the guy. Just so that we can say some more revitalised and re-brutalised nasty stuff!

Like all things, or most things, or at least some things, though none come to mind right now, Nijam isn't what is appears to be. But it's not a lie that it has been stolen from a movie that nobody has forgotten. Thanks to reruns on Telugu channels, we all still remember frame by frame, Bharatheeyudu where Kamal Hassan shocked us with the unbelievable make-up. This one is exactly that, where the protagonist goes on murdering government officials that chomp through bribes for doing their own jobs. Except, of course, that this neither has the class of Kamal Hassan nor the finesse of Shankar nor the genius of A R Rahman nor an obese Manisha Koirala... but wait, that's taken care of by Raasi!

Rama (Mahesh Babu) is this 'chikna, meetha potta' who thinks that Janaki (Rakshita) is a bit small for his age to be flirting with. Grossly offended by this, Janaki decides to do the same to the audience - stuffing paper balls into her top, trying to be 'big' (believe me sister, Raasi is kidding whenever she uses the word 'Natural'). There, this is the kinda humor, in fact the only humor, the movie offers. This from a guy whose stronghold is supposedly comedy. And you know that this is going to be one very long projection show.

Rama's dad is a superhero clichéd fire fighter who's been on the hate list of the bad man Devudu (that villain guy from Jayam) since quite sometime - precisely, from almost the beginning of the flick! So in an attempt to kill the fire fighter, a gang member dies, and the superhero dad is apprehended. He's then murdered by Devudu who takes the help of the corrupt policemen. And you know it's time for our hero to pour some red colour onto his clothes.

In Bharatheeyudu we had the old man's wife helping him - in this one we have Rama's mom doing the same. The gushy encounters with the despicable government officials were better shown in Bharatheeyudu. And even better on Tehelka.com! The killing of the officials, though cranky, was at least innovative in the former - in this one, the violence is the usual 3 Gs: gory, grotesque and gobbledygook. Bharatheeyudu even had a great ending, but Nijam just loses momentum like a spinning top.

The performances are good, especially by the mother character. Mahesh? Well, we've seen him better before and will see him better after. Raasi has been boasting about how this movie will start a new chapter in her career. Yup, the chapter on pointless guest appearances. That can be said about Prakash Raj too, who plays the character of the person tracing the killer. He has no impact whatsoever on the film except in the credits.

If Teja has any appreciation for some Nijam, he should say: "The movie has the title, 'Nijam, it's a lie' because it's a lie to call it an original. Apart from the movie, even the name has been somewhat morphed, translated and tampered from another one (True Lies). So I hope you'll enjoy watching Nijam as much as I'll enjoy taking your money. Let's not forget, that's what moviemaking is all about, and that is the only Nijam!"

Being a movie star is the best job in the world. Say a few lines in front of the camera, they pay you a bunch of money and then you drive off in your Merc-convertible to your expensive mansion in Banjara Hills where your model ex-wife is waiting for you naked! Sure... until the movie comes out and you have to pack your bags and schlep all over the country for the next three months promoting the damn thing! And in cases like this, the next three years, considering what happened with Jayam. To conclude, if you don't see Nijam, you will not know what you should be missing!