Bholaa Shankar Review: Chiranjeevi’s Vedalam remake is a film no one asked for

Remaking a successful star-driven film after seven years has several drawbacks. And when it’s a film like Ajith Kumar’s ‘Vedalam’, which was a commercial entertainer, a director needs to adapt it to the present times to make it more relatable. However, director Meher Ramesh fumbled right from the opening frame in the Megastar Chiranjeevi-starrer 'Bholaa Shankar'. Let us dive into the review now!

The film follows the story of Bhola Shankar (Chiranjeevi), a taxi driver in Kolkata and a doting brother to Maha Lakshmi (Keerthy Suresh). Meanwhile, Kolkata police are dealing with a group of ruffians involved in women trafficking. The gang is led by Alex (Tarun Arura), whose henchmen engage in a spree of kidnappings. The police take the help of taxi drivers to give them tip-offs and Shankar helps in capturing some of his men.

Alex wants to kill Shankar after the latter messes up his plans and kills his two brothers. What is Shankar’s past and why are Alex and Shankar at loggerheads? The narrative of the story explores these questions. Despite minor alterations, 'Bholaa Shankar' continues to faithfully replicate 'Vedalam'.

Chiranjeevi’s decision to do back-to-back remakes is justifiable. He said that ‘Vedalam’ wasn’t available on any OTT platform and that the story was good enough. While his line of thought meant no harm to anyone, it seriously backfired when he chose the Ajith-starrer. The story of ‘Vedalam’ is a generic commercial actioner, which was elevated by Ajith Kumar’s transformation scenes and some great mass moments. The problem here is not picking ‘Vedalam’, but revisiting it after seven long years without infusing it with a fresh perspective, which stands out as the central problem here.

Here's the trailer:

Meher Ramesh, in a recent interview, revealed that ‘Vedalam’ had 10 times more cringe sequences, which he omitted in his own film, 'Bholaa Shankar'. ‘Vedalam’ worked because of Ajith’s epic transformation scene. However, ‘Bholaa Shankar’ has a watered-down transformation scene, which hardly makes you hoot. The Telugu remake follows the story of ‘Vedalam’ to the T with no major upgrade. Hence, the story and the screenplay look outdated and uninteresting.

Chiranjeevi, with his charm and dance, tried his best to hold his ground. However, there’s only so much he could do to save this sinking ship. The inclusion of the ‘Kushi’ scene and Chiranjeevi aping his brother Pawan Kalyan’s mannerisms could have been great theatrical moments. However, they fall flat and evoke no sense of emotion.

Keerthy Suresh and Tamannaah look pretty, but their performances do not move you either. It’s the same case with the villains. They look like they’re straight out of a blazer commercial. Vennela Kishore and Brahmanandam’s cameo do not bring laughs either. The songs and background music composed by Mahati Swara Sagar add no value to the film.

‘Bholaa Shankar’ is a remake that no one asked for or a remake that could have had a better adaptation. If only.

2 out of 5 stars for ‘Bholaa Shankar’.