Ohmkkar’s Genius (2012) Movie Review

Movie: Genius
Cast: Havish, Ashwin, Sanusha, Sarath Kumar, Abhinaya, K Viswanath, Kota Srinivas Rao, Suman, Ashish Vidyarthi, Pradeep Rawat, Thagubothu Ramesh, Naga Babu, Chandramohan, Anita, Shweta Basu Prasad, Rakha, Scarlett Mellish Wilson.
Story: Chinnikrishna
Dialogues: Paruchuri Brothers
Screenplay: Vissu
Music: Joshua Sridhar
Direction: Ohmkkar
Watching at Shanti 70mm, Hyderabad
Runtime: 144 Minutes

Ohmkkar directorial debut film Genius that was supposed to hit the big-screens on December 21 was postponed by a week & releasing today (December 28). The film stars Havish, Sanusha, Aswin Babu, Sharath Kumar, Suman etc. are in the lead role. Ace writer Chinni Krishna, who has penned down stories for blockbuster Telugu movies, such as Narasimha Naidu, Indra and Gangotri, has written the film’s tale. Parachuri brothers have written the dialogues for the film. This is a message oriented movie audio (by Joshua Sridhar) released recently and doing well at the charts. Lets check out the review for more details…

Story: ACP Sarath Chandra (Sarath Kumar) is entrusted by Home Minster JP (Jaya Prakash Reddy) to solve the mystery behind the kidnap of a top film star Peddha Babu (Ashish Vidyarthi) and popular cricket player Nijamuddin (Prudhvi) and also solve the deaths of two youths Jiva (Vinod) and Yasir (Ashwin Babu).  What connection Jiva and Yasir has with the kidnaps and how it is related to Nivas (Havish) who is the son of a Priest (Suman) and aspires to be the leader in the model of Nanaji (Pradeep Rawat) should be witnessed on the silver screen.

Performances: Ashwin Babu shows a lot of energy in his role. Sanusha looks good and she is also expressive through her eyes. Havish, who made quite an impression with Nuvilla, come up with a rather okay show at best. Sarath Kumar is good and Vinod (Naa Peru Siva fame) is pretty fine in his role. Abhinaya, who plays Vinod’s gf, has nothing much to do. Bhramanandam two Scenes were just hilarious. Suman, Nagababu, Subhaleka Sudhakar, Pradeep Rawat, Thagubothu Ramesh, Ashish Vidyarthi has performed well in their limited roles. Anita, Shweta Basu Prasad & Rekha sizzled in the item number. Even Scarlett Mellish Wilson pub song is picturized well.

Technicalities: There is a decent storyline here (Though its message reminds me of Mesthri) but the problem is the way it has been narrated. Vissu’s script is far from convincing and Ohmkkar’s direction doesn’t make the film interesting either. The usual cliches of the message oriented films are there and the efforts to commercialize the presentation have ended up as a rather half-baked one. With incidents that are far from convincing and a script, which is not so great by any means, the film moves ahead in highly predictable lines. The Pre Climax episodes are narrated during the first half and then, the incidents that led to it all are being told as flashbacks. There are some sequences aimed at adding to the suspense and some to tickle the funny bone, but max times attempts falls flat.

Editing by MR Vermaa is okay. Music by Premisthe fame Joshua Sridhar is mediocre; Background Score by Chinna is superb. Cinematography is top class. Parchuri Brothers dialogues are fine. The art work is good.

Survi Verdict: Genius has good settings for a Suspense Drama. Debutant director Ohmkkar starts off the initial scenes of Genius in quite a promising way but all the excitement dies down in the second half. Stories like these need strong narration and grip on emotions in order to work. That’s where Genius fails to strike well with the audiences. Genius attempts to be stylish message oriented movie but ends up as a half-baked attempt.

Genius Message: Be a leader, don’t create a leader…

Survi Review: 2/5

Theatrical Trailer: