Winner Review: A Strange Kind of Winner Indeed?

Sethumadhavan

How do you take a film seriously when the plot elements scream out aloud what the intention is? Well the hero’s introduction scene has him riding a bike with fire blazing behind (yes indeed ☺), mouthing some powerful dialogues in front of some rich wayward guys, before going on to bash them mercilessly (what else you might ask?) and then dispensing some justice to a poor farmer. If that isn’t enough then you see the hero ride away to glory with a pretty lass behind him, that’s the stuff that legends are made of right? ☺ And then you have the heroine being presented as an aspiring athlete, please don’t ask for proof of the same. No it’s not that the film does not give you the same, but what you actually witness is an excuse of a moment to showcase the leading lady in skimpy outfits. Well the film in question is Gopichand Malineni’s Winner, the new Telugu release which features Sai Dharam Tej and Rakul Preet Singh in the lead.

Siddhu (Sai Dharam Tej) and his father Mahendra Reddy (Jagapati Babu) live by themselves happily, away from the rest of their family.  Siddhu’s grandfather- Dharmendra Reddy (Mukesh Rishi) faces trouble in his horse racing business, and so he goes on to bring back his son home.  But he isn’t happy to see Siddhu around; after all he was never in favour of Mahendra marrying the lady of his choice. He plots to separate Siddhu and Mahendra and the plan works, as Siddhu ends up running away from home due to some misunderstanding. Siddhu goes on to live alone and becomes a creative head with a newspaper, ending up falling in love with Sitara (Rakul Preet), an aspiring athlete. A turn of circumstances makes Sitara’s father arrange her wedding with Aadi (Thakur Anoop Singh), a jockey. But Sitara surprises everyone as she refuses to get married to Aadi, confessing her love for Siddhu instead and even suggesting that Aadi and Siddhu must compete in a horse race to win her hand. That’s not all; more shock is in store for Siddhu as he finds his father Mahendra announcing Aadi as his son.  How does Siddhu go on to handle the proceedings from thereon is what the rest of the tale is all about.

It appears as if Gopichand Malineni and his fellow writers Abburi Ravi and Sridhar Seepana have been quite clear in terms of their approach to ensure a balanced mix of all the vital ingredients required for a masala entertainer. So we see scope for emotion, comedy, action and songs of course. What is also true of course is that there is absolutely nothing unique about the plot as such.  The film has a lot of loopholes, and moments of convenience which are too close for comfort.  So while the father and son sentiment works, the way Dharmendra manages to hoodwink Mahendra right till the end is a little hard to digest. Another example being the way Siddhu becomes a champion jockey so quickly and nearly effortlessly.

Thaman’s music works to an extent, the songs are pretty much the way they are expected out of a film like this. Despite all its flaws, the film is mostly a breezy ride and that is because the film just does not take itself seriously. The film announces its intention loud and clear, right from the start. While it’s sad to once again see a hero resort to stalking in the name of romance, there is nothing surprising about the same over here. Talking of performances, Mukesh Rishi and Thakur Anoop Singh are mostly seen scowling or yelling and Rakul Preet seems to be there purely for the glam factor, what a pity. Jagapathi Babu is restrained and enacts his role with grace while Sai Dharam Tej does show some spunk and looks perfectly at ease in a film like this. Don’t watch Winner if you are expecting to be enticed with anything new in the form of entertainment, it is a formulaic commercial Telugu film all the way, and not even something that’s all that good.

Bottomline:

Winner is clearly a film that is focused on catering to the masses, especially to keep the frontbenchers and the B & C centre audience happy. This isn’t something that would absolutely delight anyone else, but it’s quite likely that Gopichand Malineni might just get lucky at the box office with this film.

Rating: 2.5/5