Predictions gone haywire

Nonika Singh

Einstein of palmistry, Nostradamus of India… the epithets vary. As Prabhas, the Baahubali of Telugu cinema, transforms into Baahubali of palmistry, the premise may sound interesting. A face-off between modern science and traditional practice of fortune telling could have been a riveting fare.

But as renowned palmist Vikramditya(Prabhas) goes on to predict the Emergency in India, yes the film is set in 1970s, and we soon find him living a lavish life in Rome, what he does for a vocation and how he looks are a total disconnect. There are more disconnects in order.

Radhe Shyam

Cast: Prabhas, Pooja Hegde, Bhagyashree, Sathyaraj, Sachin Khedekar, Priyadarshi, Murali Sharma and Kunaal Roy Kapur

Director: Radha Krishna Kumar

Rating: **

But before we specify other sore thumbs, we must tell you this is a love story in which the hero, who predicts the fate of others, knows he doesn’t have a love line. Hence, he is ready for flirtation-ship but not relationship. In walks Prerna (Pooja Hegde) and never mind the type he is, love has to follow. A few songs and a couple of un-amusing comic interludes later, we are reintroduced to his prediction prowess that never fails. The grandiose and cocksure manner in which he makes his projections about the future is most befitting a superstar. And in a superstar film you not only give details a miss but also credulity. So, flight of fancy it is; only to underline that palmistry is 99 per cent science. That you can make your own destiny and the lines on your hands do not determine your future is a comforting thought.

But then to know this simple truth and also how love makes the world go round, why subject us to two hours and twenty minutes of convoluted drama that is neither interesting nor stirring. Tumhari love life mein melodrama hai…Prabhas as Vikramditya tells Prerna who by the way is a doctor in Italy. And the film abounds with many melodramatic twists, most lacking dramatic punch. In the process even the positives like having a good-looking lead pair on board is lost.

A heart-warming love story can be a balm for the frayed soul any day, any time. But when you add ingredients that take away rather than enhance the ‘love-tail,’ the result is a yawn as big as the yarns the film tries to spin. Even though the director and writer Radha Krishna Kumar pretends to have cast Prabhas in an unusual frame, he can’t quite get over his Baahubali image. Hence a few sequences have been mounted precisely to buttress his super-heroic persona. Apart from his attempt to stall a speeding train en route which are many ill-fated individuals whose future he has foreseen, we even have a Titanic moment close to the climax.

Apart from the unnecessary contrivances what is worse is that good actors like Bhagyashree and Kunaal Roy Kapur pitching in as concerned mother and devoted friend respectively are completely wasted. Sachin Khedkar as Prerna’s uncle, who runs a hospital, has a considerable part, but not one that makes an impression. Sathyaraj as Paramahamsa the guru of Vikramditya has an imposing presence but once again constricted by the limited imagination of the screenplay. To be fair the swag of Parbhas and charm of Pooja are intact. Sure the picturesque locales set in Europe impress. But the lustre of the same are drowned in the din of loud background music. Couple of songs like Aashiqui Aa Gayi are passable but the film can pass muster only among diehard Prabhas fans. For the rest, the film shot in Hindi and Telugu is completely avoidable.