Daaku Maharaaj

The story telling, what a pressentation of a cliche story line .. its fabulously crafted .. and the twists and film surprises, i knowingly dont want to give spoilers for those who havent watched and urging for not to check wikipedia or spoilers , the magic of the film is the journey with the characters found a complete strategically making of this film, casting artists from north indian cinema industry, but also keeping the values of south indian cinema .. i particularly love the way south indian film makers speak about the religion , belief and doesnt hesitate to speak , unlike bollywood where film makers take a middle route ..

Nandamuri Balakrishna has been delivering solid mass entertainers since Akhanda. With a careful approach to script selection and collaborations with young directors, he's been connecting with a new generation of audiences. Expectations were naturally high for Daaku Maharaaj, especially with director Bobby, who previously delivered a blockbuster with Chiranjeevi. The trailer, packed with slick visuals and stylish sequences, only amplified the hype.

Balakrishna looks incredibly stylish in the first half, with cinematographer Vijay Karthik's striking visuals and dark tones giving the movie a Hollywood feel. Bobby's sleek direction and fresh presentation keep the first half engaging, despite the kid-sentiment subplot feeling repetitive-it's reminiscent of Balakrishna's previous film Bhagavat Kesari. Still, the stylish execution and the mystery surrounding Balakrishna's protection of the little girl maintain interest. The baby girl, who is central to the story, delivers a commendable performance. Urvashi Rautela's role feels unnecessary, but her glamorous presence caters to mass appeal. The "Dabidi Dibidi" song is a highlight for fans. Interestingly, the real heroines don't appear until the second half, an unusual choice. The interval bang, featuring the introduction of Bobby Deol as the antagonist, is well-executed and exciting.

The second half, however, falters. The setup of oppressed common people suffering under corrupt villains has been explored in countless films like Khaleja, KGF, and even the recent Saripodhaa Sanivaaram. The storyline lacks freshness, and themes of drugs and smuggling evoke comparisons to Vikram and Leo.

Among the heroines, only Shraddha Srinath gets a somewhat meaningful role, though her sudden brotherly bond with Balakrishna's character feels unconvincing. Pragya Jaiswal's character, unfortunately, lacks depth. Similarly, Bobby Deol's antagonist feels half-baked-his confrontation scenes with Balakrishna lack the impact they should have had. Balakrishna's Daaku persona is let down by weak makeup and inconsistent character depth. While his rugged look with a bull beard stands out, his clean-shaven appearance as an engineer doesn't quite fit the intense action sequences. The transformation into the Daaku could have been more gradual and impactful. Additionally, the scenes where his followers kneel in awe feel overly theatrical.

The remaining cast does their job adequately, but many actors sadly end up as padding artists, with little to contribute to the story.

Thaman's background score is one of the movie's strongest aspects. The Daaku theme is outstanding and at times feels reminiscent of Anirudh's style, showing Thaman's versatility. His music elevates many key moments. Vijay Karthik's cinematography is another highlight. His work, as seen in Jailer, brings a unique visual flair to Daaku Maharaaj. His use of color schemes and lighting makes Balakrishna's stylish portrayal stand out, especially in the first half.

Director Bobby aimed to repackage Balakrishna for Gen Z audiences with a stylish narrative and mass-elevation moments, and he succeeded in that regard. However, the film's story and core themes feel overly familiar, lacking the novelty to truly stand out.

You can watch Daaku Maharaaj for Balakrishna's new look, his signature dialogues, and the stylish execution. Just don't expect an innovative or groundbreaking story.

Routine south Indian movie, where hero fights to save a village or a family with some backstory and few elevation scenes.

Positives: 1. Balakrishna performance 2. Thaman background score 3. No cringe comedy between hero and other characters 4. No unnecessary between hero and heroine 5. All the elevations worked well because of Balayya's screen presence

Negatives: 1. No snakes and ladder game between hero and villain. Always hero wins as in all the south Indian movies 2. Few emotions didn't work well 3. Few scenes in the second half are not that engaging and felt bore 4. Multiple villains just to extend the storyline and have more fights 5. Few illogical scenes from direction point of view.

Sentence: If you are capable of torturing yourself with your mental health, then congratulations, this movie is for you.

Okay, telling you from the storyline, the movie started with a fight scene, which is a trimmed part of the middle portion to introduce the Protagonist. Then, how the movie turned out really puzzled me.

Talking about the Cast, Balakrishna's acting is good (5/10 stars), but the Hindi dubbing and dialogue delivery for the particular protagonist didn't blend well. Ravi kishan's acting is superb, and I enjoyed it. Urvashi's character is a Police Inspector, but I don't know if I'm blind; I didn't see her in uniform, and the way she portrayed her character is not justified. Lord Bobby's acting is also better than any others, but his screen time is too short.

The first half of the movie delivers while the second half is a bit dragged. The portrayal of balayya is new and the director added the style and flavour of lokesh kanagaraj movies.

Balayya came out of his comfort to take such risk of making a movie that could have ended a disaster if not for Bobby koli. The acting is nice and music is good.

This movie proves that balayya is never in his peak but he is his peak. The movie did not miss the commercial elements. But urvashi rautela's role was shortened and it was good that way, otherwise it would have spoiled the work. Though it may feel overdramatic sometimes it is perfect for the sankranti season to have mass movie like this.

A good movie if you can enjoy keeping the logics and all other things behind. It was better than most balayya's movies in the past ten years.

I don't understand why people are so obsessed with other movies this sankranti because people were ready to see all the things balayya use to do back then but does not want to watch him in a role where he has the scope to act good which he did.

The movie is a surprise to me. Don't listen to the negative reviews and watch it with a blank mind.

But the balayya in the first half is fire. Want more like this from balayya.

Go and enjoy the movie.