Brindavanam is the 4th and the last of the big movies to hit the silver screen over the last one month and this will probably be the last big release of 2010 as well. It comes in the footsteps of the highly hyped, big budgeted, starry releases such as Komaran Puli, Robot and Khaleja that received varied reactions from the box office. Brindavanam plays safe by adopting all the successful tried and tested formula and delivers some entertaining old wine in a new package.

What’s it about: Within ten minutes into the film, we get to know that the super-rich Krish (NTR) is the type of character who believes in helping anyone in distress. His girlfriend Indu (Samantha) plays on this attitude of his by asking him to help her friend Bhumi (Kajal) who needs a “boyfriend” to take back to her village to avoid getting married to her no-good bava (Ajay). So by the 20th minute, Krish lands up in Bhumi’s palatial village mansion “Brindavanam” which is lorded over by her father Prakash Raj and a small army of relatives. Despite Prakash Raj’s open dislike towards him, Krish goes around spreading happiness by reuniting estranged joint families and by the end of the first half, he has Prakash Raj’s approval to marry Bhumi. So we now have a situation where Bhumi really falls in love with Krish who also has a soft corner for her while there is an Indu hovering in the background!!! Indu also lands up at Brindavanam and this triggers off a series of episodes where Krish, Bhumi and Indu try to hide the truth from the family. So the rest of the movie is about how the truth is revealed while Krish tries to resolve the love triangle he has ended up in!!!

What is Good: Brindavanam tries to play to all types of audiences and does a successful job of it. The mainstay of this movie is NTR who gets a meaty role where he dons the romantic lover boy role for the family audiences while getting enough footage to show-off his dancing and fighting skills to his fans. His comic timing and dialogue delivery is extremely good while his dancing skills have always been his strong point. Kajal has a strong role as the timid girl, who fights back her feelings for Krish, and she does makes her presence felt in this while Samantha looks glamorous in her city girl avatar. Prakash Raj packs a punch as the head of a large family who hides his love for his daughter under the garb of responsibility. There is a hilarious comic track involving Brahmanandam as the “Bommarilu Father” that has the audience in splits. Kota Srinivas Rao, Srihari, Ajay are adequate in supporting roles. The songs and the fights are well spaced out over the movie. The art direction department has spared no expense in making Brindavanam set look rich.

What is bad: There is a sense of déjà vu since we have seen many such movies in the past which had one hero torn between two heroines and so the predictability factor can be a spoilsport. Also, the movie tries to add on too many sub-plots by including a step-brother conflict that is very easily resolved despite the violent build-up shown. The final confrontation ends quite tamely contrary to audience expectations of seeing a major showdown between NTR and Ajay based on the previous fight sequences. Samantha’s character disappears in the first half once Krish moves to the village and we don’t get to her see her until she lands up in Brindavanam.

Me Thinks: The movie makes no apologies about the fact that it is out to entertain using all the clichés possible and banks heavily on NTR to see them through. Overall, it can be a onetime watch as it’s a total masala entertainer

Tail Piece: Special effects ensure the original NTR makes a guest appearance for a scene with NTR jr during the end of the movie!!!

Click here for Review by Pramod

Click here for Review by Esskay