Kavacham

Kavacham Story: A police officer from Vizag finds himself in a rut when false allegations are levied against him. He has 24 hours now to prove his innocence. Will he be able to get back the respectable life he once had?

Kavacham Review: Kavacham is labelled a high voltage action thriller and is one indeed. The director though takes the 'voltage' side of this genre more seriously than the other aspects. It's a movie-watching experience that you'll remember for its high-decibel levels, gravity-defying action sequences amid a needlessly thumping background score. Even if the story seems intriguing on a certain level, the filmmaker Sreenivas Mamilla seems more interested in making the hero wear smart tees, romance the ladies in scenic locations and have him thrash the goons to a pulp sequence after sequence. The film is told through the eyes of an outright cop Vijay (Bellamkonda Sai Sreenivas) and his mind games with an anonymous baddie, who puts the former in a spot in an abduction drama.

The actioner is set amid a Visakhapatnam backdrop and Vijay, the cop is raised by his mom. A 60s styled mom-son thread commences the proceedings and what follows is a series of customary fight sequences to establish the cop's sincerity. And Bellamkonda too isn't an actor known for his subtleties, so you're rather okay with it. Vijay is in love with a girl (Samyuktha played by Kajal) who works at a coffee shop. In the meanwhile, the ultimate protector (yes, Vijay's made to feel so) rescues a stranger from a bunch of goons. There's a flashback episode, an accident, a staged-kidnap and in comes a quintessential twist. What you see isn't necessarily what you get.

The film is especially interesting when the director keeps a check on the heroic side to the protagonist, which is of course a rarity. The thriller-portions of Kavacham are promising to begin with, but it tries to get into 'Singam series' mode often. The second hour fares slightly better with the mind games between Vijay and the antagonist. It also comes with Bellamkonda shouting 'poliiice' after every scene and there are these tireless attempts to make him look like a do-gooder. And there's a gem of a dialogue that Vijay's mom utters when Samyuktha reveals her surname is Chaganti, “Chaganti doesn't look good for a surname, why don't you try something powerful like Deverakonda, Sirkonda or a Bellamkonda?”

Mehreen thankfully doesn't get the 'cute girl with a sob story' role and there's some genuine substance. However, Kajal takes on the onus and there are the imaginary duets that the Bellamkonda and she groove to, as if they were attempts to give their costume-designers more work. Neil Nitin Mukesh tries hard to deliver a performance that boasts of some aura but ends up looking more stifled within the commercial template. Harshavardhan Rane and Ajay don't get much in their roles either to deliver an impactful performance.

Kavacham should serve as an ideal reminder to Bellamkonda Sai Sreenivas that he needs to go beyond blazers, uniforms and abroad shoots to make a good film. The efforts of the producer should've rather been invested into the writing department here. Even after a decade in the industry, it's sad that directors view Kajal Aggarwal merely as a glam-doll sans substance. Kavacham is a shield that should rather be given to a viewer who tolerates this film.