Circle Movie Review

National award-winning director, Neelakanta is back with his new film Circle. The film stars Sai Ronak, Richa Panai, Arshin Mehta, and Baba Bhaskar in key roles. The film has music by NS Prasu and has been released in theaters with a very low buzz.

Plot

Kailash(Sai Ronak) is a popular photographer who has dated three girls in the past. All this is showcased through various episodes and the girls in discussion are Arundhuti (Richa Panai), Malvika (Neha Yellareddy), and Rajasthani Princess Himani Rajput (Arshin Mehta). On the other hand, a contract killer named Puttur Ganesh(Baba Bhaskar) is hired to finish Kailash. When Puttur Ganesh arrives to kill Kailash, the latter comes to know that one of the girls he dated, has hired a killer. The rest of the story is about Kailash finding out who has hired Puttur Ganesh to kill him.

Performances

Sai Ronak plays a fashion designer and he does well in his role. He sports different looks and is at ease in front of the camera. But he needs to improve on his expressions when it comes to emotional scenes. Baba Bhaskar plays a key role as a contract killer. While he generally overacts in all films, his performance has been toned down in this film. But in a few confrontational scenes where he needs to be dominant, he does not manage to hold the attention of the audience. Richan Panai, Neha, and Arshin Mehta provide glamor but they are weak performance-wise.

Technicalities

The story of Circle is penned by Neelakantha and it explores the phases in the life of a youngster and how they can come back to haunt him. This aspect looks good on paper but falls flat when it comes to the execution part of Neelakantha. Ranganath Gogineni’s camerawork is decent but the editing of the film is not that great. Especially in the second half, the scenes are dragged for no reason. NS. Prasu’s music is below par and the saving grace is that the songs have been captured in a decent manner. The dialogues between Sai Ronak and Baba Bhaskar are over the top and bore the audience.

Thumbs Up

Basic Storyline
A few dramatic scenes

Thumbs Down

Slow pace
Dragged scenes
Predictable screenplay
Silly Execution

Analysis

Circle has a decent premise, to begin with. How the mistakes committed in the past come to haunt us has been written well. Director Neelakantha also starts the film well and brings the key conflict point in a decent manner. But one of the biggest drawbacks is the pace of the film. Neelakantha takes a lot of time to unleash the past stories of the main lead and this becomes boring for the audience.

The manner in which the female leads fall in love with the hero is showcased in a silly manner. In a blink of an eye, they are attracted to him and once they go away, they start behaving in a weird manner. This aspect has not been handled properly by the director Neelakantha. The second half of the film drags on without a clear reason, and the love stories lack depth and fail to engage.

Baba Bhaskar is shown as a contract killer and the manner in which he behaves in tense scenes looks silly. There is no seriousness on his part and more engaging confrontation scenes between the hero and the villain would have made matters interesting. Also, Sai Ronak’s character is not consistent. At different points in the film, he behaves in a unique manner and this gives us the idea that the director had no clue about the character arc which he is showcasing to the audience. But still, Sai Ronak tries to perform to the best of his capabilities.

The key concept and the analysis of the story are dealt with only in the end. Also, the twist that is showcased does not make any sense. Neelakantha has a grip on his writing but not on his execution. His characters are flawed and for the most part, his narration also lacks that punch. There are hardly any tense moments in the film and whatever we see does not hold our attention emotionally and goes on and on.

Bottom Line – Broken Circle

Rating: 2/5