Superstar Kamal Haasan and Trisha's much-hyped movie "Cheekati Rajyam", released in theatres on Friday, has garnered rave reviews from Telugu film critics.
"Cheekati Rajyam" is an adaptation of the French film "Nuit Blanche" (Sleepless Night). Rajesh M Selva has done some changes to suit the taste of Kamal fans.
The movie is about a detective from the Narcotics Control Bureau, whose criminal act lands his son in the clutches of a cocaine peddler Vittal Rao (Prakash Rao). How he saves his son forms the crux of the story.
Kamal Haasan's performance is the main highlight of "Cheekati Rajyam". The engaging script, Mohamaad Ghibran's background score, Sanu John Varghese's cinematography, stylishly choreographed action sequences are other attractions of the film. The only drawback is its slow place, say critics.
"Cheekati Rajyam" gets an average rating of 3 out of 5.
We bring you some critics' verdict on the movie. Continue to read "Cheekati Rajyam" movie review roundup.
It's good to watch Kamal Haasan in a straight Telugu film and the team, in all earnestness, doesn't pass off anything that looks Tamil as Telugu. Having watched both versions, the effort is evident. Besides replacing car number plates and re-shooting scenes with dialogues, the team also uses a different actor (Santhana Bharathi in Tamil) for the 'Subba Rao' character. Cheekati Rajyam isn't really exceptional, going by Kamal Haasan's oeuvre, but makes for an engaging watch. An assured debut by director Rajesh M. Selva.
"Cheekati Rajyam" is a slick action thriller with interesting moments going its way. Racy first half, Kamal Haasan's performance and some stylized action episodes are huge assets. On the flip side, a predictable story line and a slightly dragged out second half spoil things a bit. All those who like action thrillers will end up loving it big time and for the rest it ends up as just a decent watch this weekend.
It's an Olympian feat to remake an International hit film to local standard and at the same time make their fans happy. However, debutant director while trying to do so, failed to grab the soul of the film completely from the original. The film leaves you with a mixed kind of impact in the end and would appeal to only a limited section of audience. All in all, Cheekati Rajyam is a remake of Nuit Blanche but lacks the finesse and gloss of Frederic Jardin's worth watching action thriller.
"Cheekati Rajyam" is a good thriller, which is gripping and narrated with a lot of intensity. If only the big twist in the film wasn't revealed quite early in the film, perhaps the end result would have even more kickass. A big thumbs up to Kamal Haasan, Trisha and rest of the team.
