'Don Seenu' - mindless entertainer

Film: "Don Seenu"; Cast: Ravi Teja, Shriya Saran, Anjana Sukhani, Srihari and Sayaji Shinde; Director: Gopichand Malineni; Cast: ***

Whether you are a Ravi Teja enthusiast or not, it is obvious that his films are paisa-vasool entertainers albeit mindless. Popularly known as 'Mass Maharaja', Ravi Teja films are always blessed with wholesome entertainment and lot of humour.

Ravi, who has grown from a character artiste to the status of a hero, is one of the best actors in the industry with the perfect timing for comedy. In "Don Seenu", the actor takes his timing for comedy one step up the notch.

Seenu chases a very peculiar dream in life - to become a real life Don, a la megastar Amitabh Bachchan's "Don". As a kid, he demands that he be called Don Seenu, and not Seenu. Irked by his deteriorating behaviour, his step-mother is all set to pack Seenu off to hostel. But he runs away from home that night and returns many years later with the same undying passion to become Don.

Seenu realises his ticket to 'Don'dom lies in Hyderabad, which is home to the city's biggest dons. He picks up a fight with the son of a police commissioner and earns the attention of Sayaji Shinde, a local don. Seenu is sent on an assignment to Germany, to win the heart of Shriya, sister of Sayaji's archenemy. What follows forms the rest of the story.

Debutant director Gopichand scripts the perfect picture for Ravi, and the character he plays in the film perfectly suits his screen name 'Mass Maharaja'. The plot has far too many twists, but the director handles it maturely and gives a satisfying output.

Ravi, needless to say, shines in the role and gives his fans plenty of cherishable laughter moments. Scenes between Ravi-Ali, Ravi-Brahmanandam are a treat to watch, especially the latter combo -- after successful films such as "Venky", "Dubai Seenu", "Krishna" and "Kick" -- make every minute between them a laugh riot.

The story of the film doesn't impress overall, but leaves one with the satisfaction of watching a clean comedy entertainer. Gopi's narration races like a stallion and the path he treads to arrive at the climax is worthy. Having worked under the mentorship of directors EVV Sathyanarayana and Srinu Vaitla, Gopi displays the effects of the masters on the disciple.

The supporting cast - Srihari, Sayaji, Shriya and others - play their respective part convincingly.

Music by Mani Sharma is not his best but worth a hear, while dialogues by Kona Venkat, written exclusively keeping Ravi in mind, do complete justice to the film.

Dubbed from Telugu, "Don Seenu" may not appeal to Tamil audiences as much as it did originally.