First things first. Shankardada Zindabad was a remake of Lage Raho Munnabhai. And it was just that. A copycat version. No planning seems to have gone into the making of the film, and Prabhu Deva's nervousness of directing a big hero like Chiranjeevi is visible all through the film. The result: the film has everything to go for it, but it lacks the soul. And a movie without a soul is like eating biryani without the masala. It may be nourishing to the body, but not spicy enough to give you the feeling that you have had your fill.
There are three things that have worked for Lage Raho Munnabhai: its novelty, its impeccable screenplay and the heroine. Apart from this, the great bonding between Munnabhai and Circuit was exceptionally portrayed. Of course, there was Dilip Prabhavalkar, who wowed the audiences with his role of Gandhi. But, unfortunately, in Shankardada Zindabad neither of them have spelt any magic.
And it is not without reason. The first mistake the filmmakers made was wanting to make a foolproof film -- without any errors in terms of production or the pace of the film. And towards that end they've recreated the Lage Raho... sequences frame by frame.
Sadly, Prabhu Deva didn't know what to do with Ravi Teja, Allu Arjun and Pawan Kalyan in the film which had no place for them. So, he did the best thing that any filmmaker would do: junk them. What a callous waste of talent!
Come to think of it, the fault doesn't lie with Prabhu Deva. And only Chiranjeevi would have to be blamed for the insipid film. For, he wanted to have his say in the film, as he had great hopes of entrenching his position as the mega star of the industry. And ended up having his finger in every pie of the production. Like it or not, he wanted Shankardada Zindabad to do for him, what Sivaji: the Boss did for Rajnikanth. Let us not forget that Chiranjeevi is no Rajnikanth, and neither is Prabhu Deva a Shankar.
This is not to say the film is an absolute piece of trash. No, not at all. It is done well by any stretch of imagination. But, as we have said, it lacked the soul. It is like a photocopy of Lage Raho Munnabhai and an immature one at that. Everyone contributed their mite to enhance the image of the film, but when there is no soul in the film, their performances end up as mere appendages.
The biggest blunder however, is the casting of Karishma Kotak as the heroine. While Vidya Balan had an amazing grace, Ms Kotak had nothing going for her. Not even looks. She looks plump, and maybe was taken to offset the body weight of Chiranjeevi. But, sadly, it didn't work. In comparison, Sonali Bendre oozed an unmatchable presence in Shankardada MBBS. The only thing that was missing in Shankardada MBBS was the pace. But in the sequel, both the grace and the pace were missing.
Chiranjeevi's fans expected some good choreography to offset the emotional scenes in the film. But they were disappointed with the mediocre dance sequences. And this leaves us with a good film to watch out for but a mediocre execution of the project. Will Tollywood ever realise that it would have to pull up its socks?
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