Movie: Pakka Commercial
Rating: 2.25/5
Cast: Gopichand, Rashi Khanna, Sathyaraj, Rao Ramesh
Director: Maruthi
Produced By: UV Creations, GA2 Arts
Release Date: July 1st, 2022
Gopichand and Rashi Khanna starrer Pakka Commercial has hit the screens today amidst great buzz from trade circles and fans who are eagerly waiting for an out-and-out commercial entertainer. The maker’s decision to not go for a ticket hike and a theatrical business of Rs 20 crores has also heightened expectations on this film. But, does it have enough juice to sustain itself at the box office? Let’s find out.
Story: Pakka Commercial is a story of ideological clashes of a father and son shown in an out and out commercial way. Suryanarayana Murthy (Sathyaraj) is a judge who walked away from service because he couldn’t give justice to the needy in a case. Lucky (Gopichand) is his son and a lawyer who is the polar opposite and is someone who can go to any extent to make money. What happens when their paths cross is what Pakka Commercial is about.
Performances: The movie solely rests on Gopichand and Sathyaraj’s shoulders with great screen time to Rao Ramesh as Vivek, an entrepreneur with crooked intentions. While the ideological clashes between father and son is not a new concept in Tollywood, it was seldom a central theme of the movie. Gopichand is fine as Lucky and has the usual fights and over-the-top dialogues to impress the masses. Sathyaraj as a noble retired judge gives a great restrained performance but is underutilized in this half-baked plot full of loopholes. Rashi Khanna as a female lead has exactly the same role as any of her other commercial movies and there is nothing much to write about. Some comedy scenes work out in the first half but barring them, there is very little to take home.
Analysis: Director Maruthi and producer Allu Aravind have been very clear about their intentions right from the teaser launch days. This movie aims to be exactly what it is named and there is absolutely no pretense about the movie being an engaging piece of work. However, even in the case of commercial potboilers, a director needs to capture the audience’s imagination. In the case of this film, there are a number of scenes that will remind you of films of the past. There is an absolute lack of imagination or clarity in the movie’s plot and you might find yourself drifting away to boredom.
Plus Points:
- Few entertaining scenes
- Gopichand fights
Minus Points:
- Dragging screenplay
- Predictable plot
- Editing
Verdict: Pakka Commercial is as flat as Maruthi’s recent works and clearly lacks in imagination leave alone creativity. This might be a hard pill to swallow even for the staunchest lovers of mass entertainers. While Gopichand tries to lighten up the film but there is no support for him and predictable screenplay makes it tough to watch.
