Robbery (Super) Review

Super is as spectacular as the number of times Nagarjuna appears on screen. The number of times his myth is exalted by the mouthing of ass-kicking dialogue, the number of times he throws his gorgeous new mane of hair back to show off his searing, masculine profile, and the number of times he bares his sinewy biceps to rescue the heroine. That's the formula. Plain and easy. And if it sounds simplistic to you, well, see if it works.

Super has bits of Dhoom, Mission Impossible, Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja and probably many other movies. Akkineni Nagarjuna plays Akhil, a bike racer who falls in love with a rather Hindi-looking heroine, Ayesha Takia. She plays Siri Valli, a doctor. Her muhbola brother Sonu (Sonu Sood) is a biker bank robber who hates Akhil, and finds out he is Siri's fiancé halfway through the movie. Naturally, he forbids her from marrying him. We only find out later in the movie that Sonu's enmity with Akhil has a history: a story that is told to us so haphazardly, it hard to keep track of.

Apparently Sonu had a sister called Sasha (played by Anushka) who was crazily in love with Akhil. All three were co-bank-robbers in addition to being bosom buddies once. But after Akhil repeatedly refused Sasha's advances (saying he can't think of her "like that"), she kills herself. Sonu blames Akhil for her death, and so begins the caustic enmity.

The second half of the movie does a hairpin twist, so that part is better left untold. Suffices to say that lovers get back together and friends are re-united in the end.

The watchable parts of the movie, though, are a square-jawed Nagarjuna with a streaked-hair, heavy-metal-drummer look (only more chocolatey), that is very becoming; and Ayesha Takia as the unlikely doctor who wears string cholis and glittering saris to work, and dances with snake-like sinuousness and ease to the remixy Sandeep Chowtha tracks.

The tracks sound indistinguishable from each other; like one giant composition chopped up into 2-minute pieces and placed with unwavering periodicity through the movie. But like all remixes, they earworm their way out with you when you leave.

In fact, the whole movie is like one giant music video. Good lookers, catchy beats, guns, leather and motorbikes, and shot in Hyderabad, Mumbai, Goa and a bunch of foreign locales. Then there is the predictable appearance of Ali who plays a roadside artist in a Scottish kilt that flies up often to incite a few laughs. And, of course, Brahmanandam who plays a polygraph expert, getting Ali to tell the truth about and sketch the face of the motorbike robber.

Finally, there are the kickass dialogues. Not sure if they will be as legendary as "Kaththitho kaaduraa, kantichooputho champutha." But they do send a little frisson of vindication down your spine. Vindication about 'mana Nagarjuna'. Like the scene in which Akhil grabs the collar of a villain and says, "Nenu nee kanna Neech Kutta Kameenani raaa." Or the one where you gulp when Sonu says, "Nenu Sirini chooskuntanu… kaani nuvvu emi ayinaa aa $#*&%kodukulani brathiki undaniyyaku." Or when Akhil flicks a couple of grenades at the 'Mama' mouthing pub-owner-cum-villain (Piyush Mishra) and walks away from the blazing flames saying "Chaau... Nee Abba!"

On that resounding note, I will end the review. Don't miss Super if you are a Nagarjuna fan. Else, do some timepass. Any which way, it can be rewarding. Take your pick.