Film : " Businessman"
Cast : Mahesh Babu, Kajal Agarwal, Prakash Raj, Shayaji Shinde, Nasser, Dharmavarapu Subramaniam, Brahmaji, Bharat Reddy, Raja Murad and Jahangeer Khan
Writer-Director : Puri Jagannath
Producer : Venkat
Music Director : S.S.Thaman
Camera : Shyam K. Naidu
Rating : ***

The magical combination of charismatic hero Mahesh Babu and director Puri Jagannath has come back again after a gap of nearly five years. The duo's last film "Pokkiri" (2007) was a spectacular success and its remake versions in Tamil, Hindi ("Wanted") and Kannada too hit the jackpot in the box office.

The film has lived up to the pre-release hype. Strong point of " Businessman" is Mahesh Babu's charismatic presence and the dialogues written by Jagannath.

Mahesh Babu, whose "Dookudu" has re-written box office records in the Telugu film industry, is not able to show the variety in his performance in the film. This is so because " Businessman" has a single thread in the story and the director has focussed on that only. But the actor dominates the film from start to end.

Dialogues carry lot of punch and it is certainly difficult to resist clapping for
some of the dialogues. The film is presented very well with superb production values. Most of Jagannath's films have sharp cuts and " Businessman" is not an exception. The film has a racy narration.

Some of the flaws in the film are that it does not have any logic and story is too far fetched. Lack of comedy is another factor that can limit the film's large scale acceptance.

In fact Jagannath's previous films "Pokkiri", "Idiot", "Amma Nanna O Tamil Ammai" and "Bujjigadu" had such a fantastic comical narration that audience expect some funny situations and dialogues. But the director seems to have decided to take " Businessman" to a different direction.

In the film Surya comes to Mumbai to become a don. He meets Chitra, daughter of a police commissioner, and tries to please her. Chitra falls in love with Surya without knowing his intention. He gets closer to her fo keep an eye on the movements of policemen.

Meanwhile Surya tires to be closer to an opposition leader and makes him win an election, which does not go well with the ruling party leaders. This leads to confrontation among the political leaders and also underworld.

Surya uses the situation to his advantage to become a don. What he does later has to be seen in the film.

Mahesh Babu is fantastic. He is the prime attraction in the film and remains so throughout the film. Kajal Agarwal has a small and cute role and she looks good on screen. There is nothing to write about veteran artists who have done their roles with ease.

Thaman once again impresses with his music. Camera work is top class. Overall, " Businessman" is a film for Mahesh Babu fans. Watch the film for the actor's sheer screen presence and Jagannath's punchy dialogues.

By V.S. Rajapur
© IANS