Skanda review: Boyapati returns with another mind-numbing action drama

Films can have plot twists, but can there be a film which only has plot twists? Taking this up as a challenge, director Boyapati Sreenu delivers Skanda, a film which has all the elements one expects from him: over-the-top action, bombastic music, slow-motion sequences, exaggerated drama, and the vibrant colours and lighting which combine into an assault on your senses. 

Skanda stars Ram Pothineni and Sree Leela in the lead roles. The film opens with Rudraganti Ramakrishna Raju (Srikanth Meka), a business tycoon, being sentenced to death for killing his employees. He is being coerced into confessing to the crime. This is clearly the set up for a saviour to come rescue this innocent man, and we all know who that will be. In case you haven’t guessed it, the saviour is Ram Pothineni playing the role of Ram. The rest of the film delves into how Ram is connected to Ramakrishna Raju, and what motivates the hero to help the businessman 

This Boyapati film offers nothing new compared to his previous films which include hits like Legend, Sarrainodu, and Akhanda. There are men flying in the air, people yelling instead of talking, shlokas used as background music, and imaginative weapons. Every fight involves huge fans blowing against the faces of actors ready to deliver ‘reaction shots’. The film is replete with these stock expressions. One could actually picture the director shouting into the microphone at the actors calling “Reaction!” 

The story is a lazy rehash of Boyapati’s earlier films such as Legend and Akhanda. But there is one difference — while his previous films only had logic-defying  action sequences, in Skanda, even the remaining scenes don’t make any sense. It seems like Boyapati’s single-point agenda in the film is to keep surprising the audience with twists and turns. But while some of these plot twists are interesting, by the end of the film, none of the revelations make any sense. 

If Ram had planned to abduct a Chief Minister’s daughter with bravado – by bombing the CM’s residence and fighting armed cops (who kindly abstain from using their weapons to avoid killing the hero) – why did he first try to stealthily cosy up to the CM? By the end of the film there is another BIG twist. And these half-baked twists appear to be an afterthought.  

As if the over-the-top action wasn’t enough, the dialogues are amateurish to the point of unintentionally inducing laughter. Typically, almost all characters deliver a dialogue in Telugu, quickly following it up with an English translation. Picture this: a deadly character called Jacob is introduced with the line “Jacob is as cunning as a jackal.”

 Boyapati tries his best to divert the viewers’ attention from any kind of reasoning, enticing them with long, high-octane action sequences. These fight sequences take up most of the film’s runtime. But this doesn’t warrant a complaint, as there is hardly any plot to begin with, to be affected by the excessive action scenes. 

In one scene, an elite police force, armed rowdies and a private militia come together to attack a village, but Ram single-handedly thwarts them. Even if these scenes are unbelievable or somewhat ridiculous, it is the performance of Ram Pothineni which holds the film together, stopping it from turning into complete parody. Ram’s conviction in the action sequences and playing the role of Ram is admirable. In contrast, Sree Leela does not have enough space to perform. She is sidelined to merely deliver ‘reaction’ shots to elevate a scene.    

Boyapati has unleashed absurdity in Skanda, where he doesn’t care to offer any explanation for many scenes, instead solely relying on his gut instinct of designing creative action. He doesn’t even bother that the set lighting is visible in the frame in certain scenes. Consumed by this frenzy, he has even announced a sequel to Skanda – promising (or threatening, depending on how you feel about the first part) to take it to a much larger scale.

Disclaimer: This review was not paid for or commissioned by anyone associated with the series/film. TNM Editorial is independent of any business relationship the organisation may have with producers or any other members of its cast or crew.