This is one review where no reader will have to worry about spoilers. Sarrainodu’s plot, after all, is a carbon copy of Sardaar Gabbar Singh and Bruce Lee: The Fighter. The same screenplay, the same treatment of the story; even the actors are pretty much the same. The one difference: Allu Arjun. Which means that even though the screenplay has been handed over to the stunt choreographer, and all the knots in the plotline are resolved with kicks, punches, and the glorious sound of bones breaking, we do get some great song-and-dance sequences.
*****
A villainous businessman and the son of the Chief Minister (Aadhi) tries to usurp the land of innocent villagers. Enter the hero (or better yet, the superhero), Allu Arjun, an ex-army man named Gana. Why has he left the army? Because, “The Army is strong, but the system here is wrong“.
The ending isn’t exactly a surprise. The superhero beats everyone until the very end, when his own family is at risk. No worries though. He will overcome that as well. He has to. This is an Oorra Mass film, after all.
Allu Arjun brings some inherent swag and humour to his scenes, and almost manages to salvage the film. But what can you do with a story which is basically about how the hero goes ballistic on the goons, because he can’t tolerate the injustice around him? There are scenes where Gana swings his bat at a villain, but stops an inch away from his face. Because the namaaz just began at a nearby mosque. He’s the Sarrainodu (right man) after all.
Given such a free rein, the stunt choreographer clearly decided to go all guns blazing. Result? Gravity defying stunts. Gana pounds a heavy villain, who falls to the ground, only to bounce back as if the floor was a trampoline.
*****
The most weakly written characters in mass films are usually the villains, depicted as purely evil. Aadhi’s character is no exception. He literally kills anyone standing in his way. Not metaphorically. In one scene, he simply stabs people who are standing in his way! Faced with villains who lack depth, the protagonist’s machismo falls flat.
Recommended
There are two heroines in Sarrainodu, purely to amp up the glamour quotient. Somehow, director Boyapati Srinu felt that Catherine Tresa, with her off-shoulder tops and glamourous designer sarees, would fit the bill of an MLA. Meanwhile, Rakul Preet Singh does nothing but cry and look helpless in all her scenes. Except when, out of nowhere, she finds time to break into a dance number with Allu Arjun.
*****
The filmmakers would argue that all this appeals to the taste of the ‘mass audience’ they’re wooing. But when it gets this repetitive, no matter how many difficult dance steps Allu Arjun takes, there’s only so much even the ‘mass audience’ can take.
*****
The Sarrainodu review is a Silverscreen original article. It was not paid for or commissioned by anyone associated with the movie. Silverscreen.in and its writers do not have any commercial relationship with movies that are reviewed on the site.