TejaFilms.com Rating: 10/10 (Masterpiece)

Mahesh Babu is the son of Superstar Krishna. He was well known celebrity at the time but always wanted to emerge from his father's shadow and become someone for himself. He had just delivered a super hit classic called Athadu and now teamed up with maverick director Puri Jagganadh for an action entertainer called Pokiri. Can this give Mahesh back to back blockbusters? Released on April 28th, 2006 find out in my review

Story: Pandu (Mahesh Babu) is a wayword youth who does anything for money. He's jobless. He will kill, hit and run, threaten and do literally anything for money. He has a group of friends who he hangs out with. He beats up Nayar( Subbaraju) who is part of the one the big mafia gangs in the city. This gang belongs to Ali Bhai (prakash Raj) who is the most wanted criminal in India at the moment. In the meanwhile, Pandu saves Shruthi (Ileana) from a lustful cop named Pasupathy(Ashish Vidyarthi) and love blossoms between them. But Shruthi realizes that Pandu is nothing more than a hardcore criminal who has no value for human life. Circumstances arise and Pandu and Ali Bhai meet. The rest of the story is how Pandu eliminates Ali Bhai and who he really is.

Performances: Hands down, this is the best performance from Mahesh Babu in his entire career. He is world class as Pandu. His dialogues, body language, poise, simply everything is amazing in this movie. It is simply his one man show and it can take him to the next level. It's an absolute feast for his fans. Ileana is absolutely gorgeous as Shruthi and gives her best performance also. The upma scene is on the best romantic scenes of all time in TFI history in my opinion. Prakash Raj is ok as the villain as he enters late and doesn't have much time. Brahmanandham and Ali are netertaining with their comedy track. Nasser is superb in the climax and gives a subdued performance throughout the film. Ashish Vidyarthi spews venom as the lustful cops who wants Ileana. He is perfect. It is Sayaji Shinde who steals the show. His counters to the media are easily the most entertaining scenes of the movie.

Technicalities: Music by Mani Sharma is amazing and the background score is equally as good. Dialogues by Puri Jagannadh are outstanding. The dialogues in the media counter scenes and the Prakash Raj ACP jail scenes show his true creativity. Cinematoprahy by Shyam K Naidu is pristine and superb. Editing by Marthand K Venkatesh is awesome. Not a single scene makes you feel bored for the 165 min runtime. Fights by Vijayan are world class. These stunts will set a new benchmark in Telugu cinema for sure. Production values are Vaishno Academy are very good. This movie is slick.

Analysis: Puri Jagannadh clearly has some talent. But with this movie he takes his abilities to the next level. This is arguably one of the best movies ever made in Indian cinema. His direction is world class in this film. He took care of every aspect and made sure that this masala entertainer is truly spicy to the core. His screenplay is excellent and racy and not for a single moment do you feel bored. and his dialogues are the icing on the cake.

Being a hardcore Mahesh Babu fan, this film was an absolute delight from start to finish. It is his one man show and everything about him in this movie makes you like him whether you are a fan of his or not. His scenes with Ileana are superb and funny in the 2nd half whenever they meet and their chemistry is rocking. Sayaji Shinde will definitely make you laugh in the press meets and his scenes with Prakash Raj are actually funny in the overall serious manner in which they're projected in.

The songs are outstanding and shot in the best manner possible. One area where Pokiri lacks is the emotional front. But who cares about sentiment when you're being entertained for 3 hours with action comedy and romance. The first half is excellent. The 2nd half drags a bit but pre climax scene is the best scene I've ever witnessed in Telugu cinema. The twist and who Krishna Manohar really is will absolutely blow your mind and it's unexpected.

On a whole, Pokiri is the best film that the Telugu cinema had produced at the time and it simply amazing. Performances, songs, fights, dialogues, you name it, this movie has it. Go and watch it and if you haven't watched it, well you need to hop on that.