A Ravi Teja-style escapist flick

Krack
Cast: Ravi Teja, Shruti Haasan, Varalaxmi Sarathkumar and Samuthirakani
Director: Gopichand Malineni
Rating: 2/5

There is a forced love track in the movie which is right after when Ravi Teja attends a yoga class with a bunch of jokers, only to tie himself up in knots. In comes Shruti Haasan, who unlocks his body with a smile on her face. Voila! This is how the duo falls in love. Instead of yoga resulting in the stillness of mind, it births a cacophonic, loud song!
Given that the film throws up such an outlandish stretch in the first 30 minutes of its screen time, can you expect good-quality entertainment? (No, don’t answer that!)
And yet, this is where Krack proves sceptics wrong — because as the film progresses, it hits some very right notes.
Shankar (Ravi Teja) is a fearless cop on a rampage. He can clamp down on a casteist protest and assault a media person in broad daylight without facing any consequences. (See, this is what we meant by ‘escapist entertainment’.) Shankar is an evangelist of torture, literally subjecting most-wanted criminals to unspeakable punishment before his superiors decide to discipline him. When he doesn’t get a salute from his subordinates, he asserts himself like Miranda Priestly from Devil Wears Prada, only a lot more volatile, screaming, “I am here precisely to get salutes.” All this while, he merrily cooks at home and takes jibs from his naughty wife (Shruti Haasan) and talkative son (Master Satthvik).
Even with its escapist tactics, the film is relatable at times. For instance, it has Goparaju Ramana from the 2020-film Middle Class Melodies showing off his retirement anxiety in a way that will connect with the audiences. At the same time, it is also one in which beastly mercenaries are shown devouring donkey’s blood because they want incredible physical stamina to use to execute the inhuman plans of their evil bosses.
However, and despite the entertainer the film proves itself to be, the script seems sort of flawed. For instance, actor Samuthirakani plays an overconfident antagonist who deploys a bomb as a rookie but surprisingly doesn’t resort to the deadliest option when faced with an existential crisis. Then, it’s inconceivable that Shruti Haasan’s character sees a turnaround in the second half. It works as an unintended comic element.
The staging of wolf attacks in the film is well done thanks to the Ram–Lakshman duo. However, we think the climax fight could’ve been several shades better. The film becomes predictable in the second half after it is done creatively traversing through Kurnool and Kadapa, and also a whole lot of Ongole. Additionally, the hero’s characterisation cries for novelty. Ravi Teja does sex up the uniform when he goes berserk, but it still needed something more. Ravi Teja is enjoyable in his part, but Samuthirakani and Varalaxmi Sarathkumar deliver laudable performances. In fact, had director Gopichand Malineni given them two or three scenes, they’d have carried those scenes on their shoulders without needing the hero.
Additionally, in a film that banks upon situational comedy, the likes of Posani Krishna Murali, Saptagiri and Ali are wasted as they add nothing more to it. GK Vishnu’s cinematography is impressive, while Thaman’s background music is about adequate. But yes, on a whole, the film makes for a cool festive entertainer.