Review : Chandi – The Power of Torture

Rating    :     1/5 Director : V. Samudra

Producer : Dr. Srinubabu G

Music Director : NR Shankar and Chinna

Starring : Priyamani, Krishnam Raju, Sarath Kumar..

Priyamani’s ‘Chandi’ has hit the screens today in Andhra Pradesh. Samudra has directed this movie and Omix Creations banner has produced the film. Krishnam Raju, Sarath Kumar and Vinod Kumar have essayed important roles in this movie. The movie has been given the caption ‘The Power of Woman’. Let us see how the movie is.

Story :

Chandi (Priyamani) is a powerful and talented young lady who is well versed in the art of combat. She is handled by a guy named Azad (Sarath Kumar) and together, they hunt down some government officials and political leaders. The helpless Police Department turns to the CBI for help and Nagababu comes in as a special officer to tackle the case.

During the course of investigation, some shocking truths are revealed about Chandi. The young lady has a violent and tragic past. She belongs to the village of Krishnapatnam and her father is Ashok Gajapathi Raju (Krishnam Raju). They belong to the Alluri dynasty.

The village of Krishnapatnam and Ashok Gajapathi Raju’s family are destroyed by the evil Minister (Ashish Vidyarthi), as they stand in the way of some lucrative mines.

How this young lady turns into Chandi and avenges the destruction of her family is what the movie is all about.

Plus Points :

Krishnam Raju looks regal as Ashok Gajapathi Raju. Priyamani looks good in a few scenes. Posani manages to tickle the funny bone in one or two scenes.

Minus Points :

‘Chandi’ is a text book example of how not to make a film. When a national award winning actress like Priyamani finds herself in such a mindless mess, one can’t help but feel sad. There is absolutely no logic or conviction in the narration.

Samudra’s direction is very bad. Dialogues are terrible and cheesy. There is no entertainment quotient at all, save for a few scenes involving Posani. Sarath Kumar and Vinod Kumar have been wasted in poorly written roles. Ashish Vidyarthi is made to look foolish in the film.

There is no emotional conviction in the film. Despite issues like land grabbing etc, the scenes do not make any impact on viewers. The famous anthyakshari scene from ‘Gabbar Singh’ has been destroyed in the film. Poor Harish Shankar will have a heart attack if he sees how the scene has been used in this movie.

The film’s pace is quite slow and boredom sets in quite early. Poor placement of songs just adds to the misery.

Technical Aspects :

Cinematography of the film is very mediocre. Editing is not up to the mark as there are jump cuts in the film and transitions are not smooth. Music and background score are very bad and do not help the film in any way.

Samudra’s direction is the biggest drawback for the film. There is neither entertainment nor serious political drama in the film.

Verdict :

‘Chandi’ is an avoidable flick. The tagline of the film is ‘The Power of Woman’. But it should have been ‘The Power of Torture’. Poor direction, weak screenplay, bad dialogues and atrocious placement of songs just make this film unbearable.