Director Praveen Sattaru seems to have been so fascinated by the John Wick series that he tried to introduce a similar style in Telugu cinema with Gandeevadhari Arjuna. True to the genre, there are no redundant songs or other distractions, but is that enough? The brief of Gandeevadhari Arjuna, starring Varun Tej and Sakshi Vaidya, could have been ‘John Wick meets Tollywood’ when the director set out to make it. But with its mishmash of Hollywood and Telugu film cliches, Praveen Sattaru delivers an extremely subpar film, possibly worse than his last film The Ghost starring Nagarjuna.
In Gandeevadhari Arjuna, Arjun (Varun Tej) is a former RAW (Research and Analysis Wing) agent. He is accidentally hired to protect Union Minister for Environment Adithya Raj (Nassar), whose life is under threat. Arjun’s mother suffers from a rare disease, and his girlfriend leaves him. As cliche as it sounds, Ira (Sakshi Vaidya) breaks up with Arjun assuming that he is cheating on her. But in reality, he lies to her because of the nature of his job.
Minister Adithya Raj is fighting a criminal corporate group that disposes of medical waste in India irresponsibly, causing pollution. As strange as it sounds, Ira and Arjun meet again, as she works as the Minister’s personal secretary. Arjun also has a personal motivation to fight against this criminal organisation, but all of these interlinked elements of the story fail to come together seamlessly, thanks to the convoluted, convenient writing.
The film has style. It is well-shot, and the action scenes are well-choreographed. But Gandeevadhari Arjuna has zero substance. From the opening scene to the very last shot, there is not one moment in the film that excites or entices the audience. For an action film, it has a highly predictable plot with zero drama or tension.
Gandeevadhari Arjuna has to be one of the most lazily written Telugu films in recent years — full of superficial Hollywood influences with little organic storytelling. It is not wrong to find inspiration and ideas in other film industries, but how well you adapt the film for the Indian audience matters. And Praveen Sattaru thoroughly fails on this front.
Gandeevadhari Arjuna lacks any originality. It feels like you’re watching cardboard cut-outs of real people playing roles that can best be described as ‘stereotypical mother’, ‘stereotypical girlfriend’, ‘stereotypical child’, ‘stereotypical villain’, ‘stereotypical friend’ and so on. I was taken aback at the entry of a snack-munching, non-serious-looking investigating officer. In how many movies have we seen similar characters? There could have at least been some effort to change the mannerisms of such stock characters.
A fantastic performer such as Nassar remains underutilised. Vinay Rai, who gave a terrific performance in Nelson Dilipkumar’s Doctor, isn’t given much scope to perform either. Vimala Raman and Sakshi Vaidya are adequate in the roles given to them. In a poorly-written story, any attempts at a performance by Varun Tej vanish into thin air. You can barely feel his presence as an actor.
There are lives at stake, threats of abduction and other dangers, but at no point does Gandeevadhari Arjuna offer any absorbing, engaging drama. The bland narration, poorly-written characters, poor dialogues, and poor performances, make the film a dull and tiring watch.
Disclaimer: This review was not paid for or commissioned by anyone associated with the film. Neither TNM nor any of its reviewers have any sort of business relationship with the producers or any other members of its cast and crew.