Film: ‘Panchakshari’; Cast: Anushka Shetty, Pradeep Rawat, Nasser, Samrat, Brahmanandam, Ali, Raghu Babu, Chandramohan and others; Producer: B. Ramchandra Rao; Director: Samudra; Music: Chinna; Camera: Vasu; Rating: * 1/2
She has been a top heroine of Telugu and Tamil movies and the success of ‘Arundhati’ has skyrocketed her stature in the industry. Her recent film ‘Panchakshari’ is largely influenced by ‘Arundhati’ in the way the script has been written and the way incidents of the past mix with the present.
But director Samudra is not Kodi Ramakrishna, who has specialised in making films like ‘Arundhati’ or has the capabilities of making a fully engaging commercial film. Samudra’s track record has been inconsistent so far and he has once again failed with ‘Panchakshari’ that has Anushka in a double role.
The main problem with ‘Panchakshari’ is its flawed narration and hackneyed script written by Samudra himself. He has included some silly comedy elements that mars the film’s quality.
Samudra’s lacklustre and unimaginative direction is in full evidence in many sequences. In one of the scenes Anushka and her imaginary lover are burnt alive and there is not even a scream that is heard. Despite directing many films so far, it seems Samudra has not learnt any lessons from his past mistakes.
‘Panchakshari’ revolves around an ambitious business woman Honey who runs her own firm. But she is anti-marriage and for her parents’ peace of mind she lies to them saying she is seeing someone. The family members are surprised when the same person lands up at their doorstep.
Meanwhile, in another place there is a Honey lookalike called Panchakshari – a much revered woman who gets killed by criminals pursuing a treasure. It’s left to Honey take revenge from those who killed Panchakshari.
The story has a lot of similarities with ‘Arundhati’, but Anushka, who looked brilliant in ‘Arundhati’, has given inconsistent performance in ‘Panchakshari’. She impresses as Panchakshari, but is not up to the mark in the role of Honey.
Samrat comes off well in expressions and can be groomed. Veteran character artists like Nasser and Pradeep Rawat look convincing in their respective roles. Though there is lot of scope for comedy sequences, the film suffers from overacting from even veteran comedy artists like Brahmanandam and Telangana Shakuntala.
The music by Chinna is ordinary, but the camera work is much better. Noted editor Marthand Venkatesh has nothing much to do in elevating the film marred by an erratic script.
‘Panchakshari’ is like a crude attempt to copy the hugely successful ‘Arundhati’ and director Samudra spoils the show.
