Sagar Tetali
Chiranjeevi’s latest film, when Chiranjeevi smashes a wall with his elbow, angered by a prank played by Tamannaah. It seems to come out of nowhere; the dramatic context is too tepid for this
This moment occurs when Chiranjeevi is being blackmailed by the Superintendent of Police into approving a marriage alliance. The two men have this conversation while walking a narrow path throttled by two brick walls.
It’s safe to say there’s nothing in Bholaa Shankar to match the craft that went into constructing this masala moment. There is in fact, nothing in any of Chiranjeevi’s films since his “comeback” in Khaidi No: 150 to match this.
This isn’t to say that Chiranjeevi’s films from the 80s and 90s age entirely well, or that he should be making the kind of films he was making then in 2023. Many of these films have stretches of awful misogyny and poorly-aging comedy.
Talk to anyone who grew up in the Telugu states in the 80s and 90s and Chiranjeevi was synonymous with an aspirational “herodom”. For a boy growing up in this era, he represented an irresistible masculinity that could sometimes be toxic.