'Son Of India' is the latest box-office release in the town. It's jointly produced by 24 Frames Factory and Sree Lakshmi Prasanna Pictures.
Story
Babjee (Mohan Babu) works for the NIA as a driver. The NIA is investigating the kidnap of a Union Minister (played by Srikanth). Least do the bosses at the NIA know that Babjee is the one who abducted the Minister. What is Babjee's agenda in kidnapping the Minister and a couple of others? What happened to his lovely wife Dakshayani (Meena)? As the story progresses, answers to these questions are unravelled.
Performances
Mohan Babu's last outing as a male lead was the 2018 remake film 'Gayatri'. In 2020, he was seen in a well-written role in Suriya's 'Aakasame Nee Naddhu Raa'. 'Son Of India' has him in a role that is meant to highlight the heroic side of his acting. Slow-motion shots, punchlines and elevation dialogues beef up his performance and only to a small extent. Otherwise, his style is old-fashioned and doesn't have anything in it that the new generation can find interesting.
The film is an experiment, in that most of the actors' faces are not seen at all. They are blurred. As such, the ensemble cast compromising of the likes of Srikanth, senior Naresh and Prudhvi Raj are wasted. Even an actress like Pragya Jaiswal is also seen but not much. From Ali to Vennela Kishore, from Raja Ravindra to Meena, everyone is there and not there. Most of their characters are cliched.
Technical aspects
Maestro Ilaiyaraaja and cinematographer Sarvesh Murari don't get much to save this warped film. 'Son Of India' doesn't have a semblance of a vision, much less an attempt to seem updated. The background music is pedestrian, while the visuals are spectacularly poor.
Gautham Raju's editing is unremarkable. The straightforward, lazy narration keeps the spirits low.
Analysis
Right at the outset, Mohan Babu's voice tells the audience that 'Son Of India' is an experimental film. In what sense? The film plays out like a one-actor screenplay (the screenplay is by Mohan Babu himself). So, most of the times, the camera is placed behind the rest of the actors. When their faces have to be shown, they are blurred. Are you shocked? Never mind.
The film has dialogues by Thotapalli Sainath in company with the director, Diamond Ratnababu. In a supposedly emotional scene, a character screams at Virupaksha alias Babjee and asks who he is: Are you a mafia leader, a politician, a gully leader or something else? The context of such lines should have been meaty. In the absence of tempo and context, such dialogues sound frustratingly outdated.
The film congratulates itself when it is not busy overstating its dated themes. For example, a character says that the teaser is superb when the titular character says something about his 'private jails'. The concept of 'private jails' was highlighted in the pre-release interviews. In the film, it is barely explained or explored. There is just a one-line reference to it.
Mohan Babu dons a variety of costumes and makes the mark in none of them. It's as if he wanted to prove something but the haphazard script doesn't let him make any point.
It's a miracle that even Megastar Chiranjeevi's voice-over doesn't make any impression. This film is a complete cop-out.
Closing Remarks
'Son Of India' is the 'Disaster of India' you should strictly avoid.
