Despite a routine plot, an over the top climax & many unwanted songs it still fairly entertains due to its action, confrontation scenes & Manoj Bajpai.
If one wishes to list the negative features associated with this first biggie of 2015, then TEVAR has got many. Beginning with once again being an official remake of a south hit titled OKKADU (Telugu – 2003) revolving around the same old repetitive plot seen many times before with a much longer length than required due to many below average unwanted songs thrown just at the wrong timings slowing its otherwise racy pace quite severely. Full of fights, swords, guns, goons and murder it has all clichéd characters ranging from a carefree boy-hero, his group of friends, a police officer father, a caring mother, a bubbly sister, an active politician with his cunning brother and a heroine who is the center of attraction as always in a typical Bollywood film.But despite all the above mentioned flaws, I am still not willing to ridicule the film completely since it does give you many decent masala moments within this fixed format and has many technical merits in its favour too ranging from a pulsating background score, excellent camera-work and some well-conceived long action/chase sequences shot on actual locations, providing the much required exciting moments throughout along with some fine performance delivered by the known names.
Starting with an enjoyable local feel of a small town TEVAR opens energetically featuring Kabaddi, an introductory fight and a well- choreographed song "Superman" in the first 15 minutes. But then goes back to all formula twists as Sonakshi and other major characters enter the screen with some entertaining dialogues. Its major plot gets revealed just after the dragging "Radha" song and the film becomes entirely predictable post that sequence unarguably. The poor songs keep hindering the pace one after another adding to the over-length of the film making it more than 150 minutes long. And then, though the film keeps coming up with some engaging moments at a regular basis both before and after the interval, it sadly all ends with a pretty poor, obvious and over the top climax that should have been altered.
However what still makes TEVAR a fairly entertaining film for the masses is the sum of few well written dialogues, superbly conceived action as well as confrontation sequences and Manoj Bajpai alone to be straight. Arjun Kapoor gives an honestly worked out performance (particularly in the action sequences) justifying his banal lead character making a visible effort but his overall impact still lacks the punch probably due to the thin voice texture and a bit of over-confidence. Astonishingly Sonakshi Sinhaonce again does a similar 'seen before' kind of role as if she is doing it in a sleep walk whereas the supporting cast efficiently lift up the film featuring the impressive Raj Babbar (as the father), Deepti Naval (mother), Subrat Dutt (as Bajpai's sidekick),Rajesh Sharma (as the politician) and the girl playing Arjun's younger sister.
Returning to Manoj Bajpai, the main savior of the film, its really amazing how he manages to add a lot of newness in a character that he has already played in a few films before. And that's exactly the reason why he is considered one of the most gifted actors of our present times unanimously. In other words TEVAR majorly survives due to Manoj Bajpai ruling the scenes in particular along with the worth watching action, dialogues and cinematography capturing the local feel effectively. Having said that, its editing taking out at least 3 songs and few sequences could have resulted in much better film for sure.
Directed by the talented Amit Ravindernath Shar as his debut film, it does give you glimpses of an experienced man who knows his job well. And I hope he chooses a fresh theme next time coming up with a complete entertainer surprising both the masses as well as the classes together. The man has got the eye and probably an ear too as he aptly uses a soft sad number "Main Nahin Jaana Khereyan De Naal" towards the end that is an original song sung by the maestro Tufail Niyazi from Pakistan.
Ending on a nostalgic note, whenever there is a film like TEVAR solely made for the masses and smaller centers, I prefer to watch it in a single screen theater if possible as that remains the best place to watch such movies with the energetic roaring crowd instead of the silent, sophisticated audience of a multiplex. And all readers above the age of 35 would readily agree with the fact that watching a Bollywood masala movie in a single screen theater makes a major difference in your viewing and enjoying the film altogether without any doubt.
In short, nothing can beat the experience of watching a typical masala Hindi film at a single screen and its really sad that the coming generations are going to miss it. So if you love watching these movies specifically made for the masses and are a fan of Manoj Bajpai too then TEVAR can be tried as a one-time watch for the exceptionally talented actor alone, preferably at a single screen.
score 5/10
bobbysing 19 March 2015
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw3204690/34845
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