Bhola Shankar Review: Chiranjeevi impresses in lousy remake of Vedalam

Bhola Shankar is the remake of the Ajith-starrer Vedalam which released in 2015 and was a massive hit. The film enjoys a dedicated fanbase because of Ajith’s performance. The mass actor brilliantly captured the two distinct shades of his character. Bhola Shankar had garnered attention as Chiranjeevi is no stranger to remakes. In fact, last year, he starred in GodFather, a remake of Lucifer. So did Bhola Shankar do justice to the standards set by the original version?

3 things you need to know:

• Bhola Shankar is the official remake of Ajith-starrer Vedalam (2015)
• The film also stars Tamannaah who plays Chiranjeevi’s love interest.
• Bhola Shankar is directed by Meher Ramesh.

Hot Take

Bhola Shankar has all the ingredients that make for a good entertainer. It is also loaded with plenty of meta-jokes and hero elevation moments with that deliver the goods. However, Bhola Shankar's screenplay is lackluster and the characters have not been fleshed out properly.  Additionally, the film’s second half drags on for too long due to its laborious backstory. As a result, Bhola Shankar is watchable in parts but fails to engage on the whole.

Does Bhola Shankar live up to the hype?

Bhola Shankar revolves around Bhola, a simple do-gooder, and his sister Mahalakshmi (Keerthy Suresh). The two have moved to Kolkata at a time when the city is witnessing a drastic surge in human trafficking. Bhola, who has taken up a job as a Taxi Driver, ends up volunteering as a Police informant to help nab the criminals. The repercussions faced by Bhola and his sister form the crux of the narrative. The story also delves into why he decided to help the cops.

Offers nothing fresh

Bhola Shankar barely has anything new to offer, in terms of plot devices or character prototypes. Everyone and everything falls perfectly in a pre-formatted box. The villain-trio only talks in grunts. The love interest (Tamannaah) disappears after a song sequence, and so on. As a result, Bhola Shankar largely feels stale and too familiar for comfort. 

There are a handful of laughs in the first half, courtesy of the scenes with Chiranjeevi and Vennela Kishore who plays Vamsi. At its best moments, Bhola Shankar plays out like a self-aware parody, fully aware of its own contrivances and cliches. At its weakest, Bhola Shankar is an unimaginative masala fest that makes no attempt at doing anything different. Its impact is diluted further by the unimaginative writing.

(One of the songs in Bhola Shankar is titled Milky Beauty after the moniker earned by Tamannaah Bhatia in Telugu film industry | Image: Instagram/Chiranjeevi)

Loaded with meta-jokes

Bhola Shankar features references to older, more popular films of both Chiranjeevi and other stars. One of the songs is titled ‘Milky Beauty’ which is a reference to the monicker Bhatia has earned over the years. In one of the more endearing moments of the film, Chiranjeevi does an impression of his younger brother Pawan Kalyan from the 2001 film Kushi.  Unfortunately, this scene overstays its welcome and drags on for too long. and that also is the issue with the rest of the film. Bhola Shankar doesn’t know when to put brakes on the inside jokes.

Still no meaty roles for women in a hero-driven film?

The most disappointing part of Bhola Shankar is how the narrative stays too loyal to its hyper-masculine energy, and has little to no space for its talented female leads. Keerthy Suresh, an otherwise phenomenal actress, is forced to stay on the sidelines. It’s only a brief moment in the second half and then in the climactic action sequence where Keerthy Suresh stands shoulder-to-shoulder with Chiranjeevi, and gets to showcase her potential. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that director Meher Ramesh wastes Keerthy Suresh in this role.

Tamannaah Bhatia’s part in the film starts on a promising note. The star gets a few moments to showcase her comic chops. However,  her character vanishes after the Milky Beauty number. She does not even return for the climax.

(The film gives Chiranjeevi plenty of sequences to showcase his dancing skills | Image: Instagram/Chiranjeevi)

Chiranjeevi shines for most parts, misses the mark in some

Bhola Shankar, like a quintessential star-driven vehicle, incorporates everything its leading star is known for. There are plenty of action sequences. Chiranjeevi gets to show off his dancing skills on more occasions than one. 

The Stalin star is in his element for the most part. The actor particularly has a lot of fun with the comic scenes. He displays the right amount of swag while bashing the goons. The first action scene arrives after the first hour but is well worth the wait. But after a point, it feels like the writers weaved in those action sequences just so that the mega-star could enjoy himself a little more.

However, it's during the song-and-dance sequences that one can visibly notice the stiffness in Chiranjeevi’s demeanor - that’s where one misses the spontaneity and vigour of a younger Chiranjeevi who had won hearts with his flexible dance moves. However, in the second half, there are plenty of scenes both comic and emotional where Chiranjeevi takes center stage and steals the show. 

Two different films in two halves

Chiranjeevi’s star power, however, serves as both the strength and weakness for Bhola Shankar. The writers, in their eagerness to play to Chiranjeevi’s comic strengths, end up making the backstory too labored and overwrought. You might as well enter the auditorium at the interval point, and it will still feel like the film has just begun. 

Bhola Shankar misses the most important element of the original

That said, Bhola Shankar misses the mark when it came to capturing the unpredictable madness of the protagonist. Although Bholaa is established as a good-hearted simpleton, Chiranjeevi’s persona remains too strong and overpowering which later dilutes the impact during the transformation scene where the film takes a major turn. In the original, Ajith had elevated the scene to another level with his chameleon-like switch in his demeanor. Chiranjeevi, although still charismatic in his early 60s, never truly convinces us of the two contrasting facades of his character. 

Watch it or Skip it?

While Chiranjeevi fans might be pleased to see their mega-star in top form and in a role that plays to his strengths, Bhola Shankar has little to offer to those who are looking for something consistently entertaining in its runtime. In short, Bhola Shankar can be skipped. 

Bottomline

Bhola Shankar, on the whole, is too long, too formulaic, and too content with its cliched storytelling. Additionally, a stretched second half makes the narrative a middling one. There are better ways to go about making hero-driven masala movies for present times. And, Bhola Shankar is hardly a good example of the same.

Rating: 2/5