What’s it about!
A Chief Minister (Suman) injures severely in a bomb blast. On hospital bed, before breathing the last one, he asks his US returned son Arjun Prasad (Rana) to become the next chief minister of the state. Arjun learns that his father is very corrupted politician and his mother also asks him to become CM to cleanse the corrupted system. But his relative and ruling MLA Dhanraj has already mobilized all the MLAs to support his name for the CM chair. Dhanraj is very corrupted and is criminal. Arjun plays the same rules of game that the corrupted politicians do to win his aim – to become the CM. He wins the post and vows to mobilize Rs One Lakh Crores by raiding all the politicians and officers to provide good governance to the people. While he is on this mission, he naturally faces obstacles from his own party members, becomes victim of the political conspiracies, et al. How he goes against the system to he become real leader is all about the movie. Meanwhile, he also romances with a Radio Jackie and another media person.

Analysis

After attempting at romantic themes in three films ( Anand, Godavari and Happy Days), director Sekhar Kammula this time touches political issue in ‘Leader’. He chooses corruption in politics as premise for this film. Corruption in politics has always been a ‘hit’ and ‘hot’ topic in South Indian films. A hero trying to change the system with his mind games is also not new thing. We have already seen such films like Shankar’s Oke Okadu (One Day CM concept), collecting black money by conducting raids on officers and other corrupted politicians (Shivaji), hero trying to cleanse the system (Tagore), and Chief Minister’s son trying to be good leader (Evadaithey Nakenti). And not to forget Manirathnam’s Yuva where a young leader wants new rules of game in politics. Yet, Sekhar Kammula goes by and large the same path that these aforementioned films treaded.

Sekhar Kammula’s Leader is nothing but a superficial attempt at depicting the current political situations. In most of the scenes, the film looks like it is made with so much of naivety. It starts off slowly and almost thirty minutes before the drama starts and soon after the interval, it completely goes out of hand. None of the scenes look real in the second half as most of them are created for director’s convenience. In middle of ‘serious’ situation, our hero romances with a media girl (Richa) like Hugh Grant did in Love Actually. When suddenly his mother dies, the director includes a scene showing that his mother actually supporting One Lakh women financially and they all tuned up to pay homage to her. How silly! Soon after a bomb blast kills at Lumbini Park, the chief minister goes to reach Peddayana while romancing his girl friend en route. Wow! Not just these scenes, most of them look are written to the director’s convenience than the flow of the movie.

Looks like the director has tried to include several incidents that have happened in Andhra Pradesh - incidents relating post YSR’s death, atrocities on Chundur Dalits, Lumbini bomb blasts, Ayesha Meera case, a power baron wanting his caste people to rule – to show off his ‘political knowledge’ but they are don’t go seamlessly with the storyline. Even the depiction of journalists and media is so unreal. There are too many of shots about TV anchors speaking on the screen and all of them act more like party works of CM’s party than news anchors reading the news. An anchor Jodi (Rani Rudrama and Ramchandra Murthy) even discuss in the news studio like Radio Jackies on FM Radios and mouth silly dialogues.

Pre-interval scenes are pretty good. Rest of the movie is shallow.

Performances

Rana Daggubati makes very confident debut. For a first timer, he really has done good job. He fits the role to the T in the role of cultured and well-mannered young CM. His tall figure is also an advantage. His voice is an asset. Of the two starlets, Richa Gangopadhyay is good and makes her presence felt. Priya Anad looks bubbly but her role is more like a junior artiste’s. Kota Srinivas Rao as Peddayana once again delivers best performance while Suhasini, Ahuti and Suman are okay. Subbaraju as rival politician shines in his role.



Technically the film is very tacky. Camera work by Vijay C Kumar is at its worst. We wonder is he the same guy who filmed Happy Days wonderfully. Editing by Marthand K Venkatesh is jerky and it urgently needs to be trimmed for many minutes. The film has only one duet and rest of the songs play in background and Micky J Meyer has given two good songs – Vandemataram and a duet. But his background score is not upto the mark. Thoata Tharani’s art work is good although the Assembly set is not in the league of his best works.

Sekhar Kammula is fine ‘story’ teller that is why he prefers to tell the stories rather than showing it visually. Some of his dialogues are pretty good. But as a director he fails to present the movie engrossingly.

Bottom-line

Sekhar Kammula’s Leader is not that everyone wants to have. It is superficial attempt and much of the scenes are very cinematic. It is good only in parts. On the whole, the film is disappointing one.

Rating: 2.75/5