Ishan off to a good start with Rogue

Cast: Ishan, Mannara Chopra, Angela, Thakur Anoop Singh, Subba Raju, Ali and others
Director: Puri Jagannadh
Rating: 2.5 stars

Director Puri Jagannadh’s films always create a buzz at the box-office and his latest offering, Rogue is no different. Ishan, the brother of Kannada producer C.R. Manohar makes his debut with this film while Mannara Chopra and Angela are the two female leads. Chanti (Ishan) is a reckless guy who falls in love with the Police Commissioner’s sister Anjali (Angela). He is madly in love and can’t live without her. But Anjali ditches him and marries her brother’s choice, an encounter specialist (Subbaraju). Chanti tries to disrupt the engagement and gets arrested. From then on, he hates women, especially those named Anjali. After he comes out from jail, he finds out through his father that a constable (Satya) got badly injured when he fought with the police at Anjali’s engagement. The constable’s family is now poor as he can’t walk and has no job.

Realisation dawns on Chanti and he decides to support the constable’s family. He becomes a recovery agent for a financier (Posani Krishna Murali). At the same time, yet another woman named Anjali (Mannara Chopra), the constable’s sister, comes into his life. Meanwhile, a psycho (Thakur Anoop Singh) escapes from jail and comes looking for her. Will Chanti change his opinion about women, and what is the connection between Anjali and the psycho?

Director Puri’s earlier film Idiot with Ravi Teja turned him into a big star. The film’s tagline was Chantigadi Prema Katha and now, for Rogue, the director has given the tagline Maro Chantigadi Prema Katha. Interestingly, Puri chose to play safe and introduced Ishan through a routine love story. The director, well known for his punchy dialogues, had lost his touch in between, but is back to form with this film.

However, the problem lies in the film’s narrative: While the first half is entertaining and moves at a fast pace, the second half loses direction with the introduction of Anoop. The film becomes predictable, with over-the-top scenes lacking in clarity and logic. A psycho killer escapes from jail and happily roams the streets, kidnapping women and the police unable to do anything to him is illogical. But still, the director doesn’t bore you and narrates the story in a quick manner without any drag.

This is the perfect launch for Ishan, who does a neat job. His looks and style are impressive, and he has a good screen presence. It seems like he could give some tough competition to other actors in the coming days. Puri, known to show his protagonists in a heroic and ‘mass’ manner, does the same for Ishan, too. Anoop also does a commendable job in the film. Of the two leading ladies, Mannara Chopra has a lengthy role and she has done a good job. She gives a decent performance in this film and looks glamorous too. Angela’s performance is average, while Subbaraju supports the cast well. Tulasi, Satya and the others have also done well, while Ali provides a few laughs with his comic act.

The cinematography is good, and the locations have been captured beautifully, especially in the songs. The music is just average but the background score is good. The dialogues by Puri are definitely entertaining, especially for the younger crowd. Finally, Rogue is not a complete ‘Puri film’ as his old touch is there only in the first half, with the second half lacking. Debutant Ishan is good, and this film is definitely a big boost for his career.