Pandem Review

Pandem is the story of a good-for-nothing confused selfish irresponsible lout who becomes President. We are not referring to anyone in particular. We probably aren't referring to George Bush, either. Besides, the guy in the film turns over a new leaf before he is elected President. Then, as this film shows, becoming a President sure isn't easy. You have to sit through half of a film that's so boring, we had to watch 5 unsubtitled Mongolian art films after it to feel more bored.

Seenu (Jagapathi Babu) is a good-for-nothing confused selfish irresponsible lout and a complete loser, and is listed that way in several address books. Everyone in the village despises or loathes him, whichever comes first. But everything changes after the interval, including your marital status - it takes a while for this film to reach the interval. Seenu falls in love with Sita (Kalyani), and decides to run for President of the Panchayat since she will accept as husband only someone who's in a higher position than her.

The spanner in the works is Linga Raju (Ramaraju), who is the current President, and who has to be villain since otherwise there is no story. Now Seenu hasn't ever been much of a people man, and convincing even his mother to vote for him would require the services of a professional PR team with 58 branches in 34 cities. So when he sets about campaigning, the reception isn't exactly earth-shattering. But love conquereth all, including the first half, and the film starts getting more interesting as it's a battle royale of both wits and horsepower between Seenu and Lingaraju.

After spates of movies with newcomers, it's always welcome to be watching a film with at least decent acting. Almost everyone is good. But the script is nowhere near taut, and the individual moments of the film completely undo the potential of the plot. All it would have taken is some time at the creative desk. The first half drags, and the real action is only in the second. The music and comedy are both sub-par, and at the end of the day this is a film for B and C centers, due to its rural theme and setting.