Pandu (Mahesh Babu) is a ruthless mafia man who kills anybody for money. He falls in love with Sruthi (Ileana) at the very first sight. Sruthi too loves Pandu, but hesitates to confess her love to him as he is a reckless criminal. Though a goon, Pandu has certain rigid principles that leads for an enmity with Ali (Prakash Raj) - the biggest mafia don in the town. The rest of the story is all about how he settles score with Ali.
Analysis :
In my opinion, this was the best ever performance by Mahesh Babu. His acting skills not only render commercial entertainment to the general crowds, but also delight the serious filmgoers. Puri Jagan should be commended for doing great characterization for Mahesh. Mahesh Babu’s one-liners uttered in Uttarandhra dialect are real fun. Mahesh Babu who is undoubtedly the best good looking hero of this generation is extremely fascinating with his new hairdo. Ileana goes a step ahead from Devadasu in histrionics department. She is also another attraction for this movie. Sayaji Shinde steals the show in certain intense moments as a sincere cop. Prakash Raj is entertaining. Nasseer is extremely good in an episode that takes place 20 minutes before the climax. The comedy track of Brahmanandam and Ali is not impressive. This track should have been trimmed towards the end. Jyothirana is good as rowdy seductress. Item song girl Mumaith Khan put on a bit of weight.
TeluguOne Perspective :
First half of the film is very entertaining. The tempo has gone down a bit in the second half, but the run up to the climax is good. The plus points of this film are Mahesh Babu’s extraordinary performance and Puri Jagan’s characterization of hero. On the flip side, second half should have handled better. The emotions aspect is not properly taken care of. On the commercial front, Pokiri film has more appeal towards A centers and youth base compared to family crowds and B/C centers. On a whole, Mahesh Babu’s performance in Pokiri itself is worth your ticket and the rest is bonus!