Bhala Thandhanana Review: Partly engaging

Sri Vishnu and Catherine Tresa’s film, Bhala Thandhanana under the direction of Chaitanya Dantuluri has hit the screens today. Let’s analyse it.

Story:

A crime journalist Sasirekha (Catherine Tresa) is after a politically influencing personality named Anand Bali (Garuda Ramachandra Raju). Why is she keen on finding out the activities of Anand Bali? To achieve her mission, how will Sasirekha takes help from Chandu (Sree Vishnu). Who is Chandu? What is his backstory? How is a massive Rs 2000 crore hawala interconnected with the entire setup, forming the main USB of the film.

On-screen performances: 

Sree Vishnu gave a decent performance and tried to do justice to the character. While his soft-natured attitude in the first half has been presented nicely, the makeover in the latter part is decent.

Though heroine Catherine Tresa looked a bit odd on-screen, she converted all the negatives into positives with her screen presence. While her performance as a crime journalist is decent, looks-wise, Catherine is chubby and lost her previous charm.

Garuda Ramachandra Raju gets a strong role as the main antagonist and he did his part quite effectively. Posani Krishna Murali evokes decent fun with his typical facial expressions in the second half.

Other supporting artists including comedian Satya gave a decent job in their characters.

Off-screen talents:

The cinematography work by Suresh Ragutu is good as he presented the entire film with good lighting and framing setup. Editing by Marthand K Venkatesh is not up to the mark as he would have trimmed the dull moments in both the halves outrightly.

Coming to Mani Sharma’s music, his background score is engaging to an extent. On the other hand, all the songs are passable and have a fresh sounding.

Srikanth Vissa did a good job as a dialogue writer as his work is visible in a few key episodes. Production values for this tight budget movie are okay.

Talking about the directional skills of Chaitanya Dantuluri, the director tried to showcase a crime drama by interlinking it with Rs 2000 crore hawala money. Though the director’s on-paper idea is decent, he struggled to execute the processing with an impactful screenplay.

Positive Points:

• Sree Vishnu
• Music

Negative Points:

• Screenplay
• Routine template second half

Verdict: In an overview, Bhala Thandhanana is a crime thriller that creates interest among the audience with a couple of scenes in the first half but the lack of gripping narrative in the second half disappoints the audience big-time. Well, you can give it a try on the big screens if you want to witness some different kind of concept.

Telugubulletin.com Rating: 2.25/5