Sankham

Starring: Gopichand, Trisha, Sathyaraj and others

Director: Shiva

Music: Thaman S                                                                                                                                                                

Release date: 11 September 11, 2009

The much awaited Gopichand and Trisha film Sankham hit he screens today. The film is set against Rayalaseema backdrop and as about faction rivalry. Let’s see how far the film has managed to reach up to the expectations of the audience.

Story:

Chandu (Gopichand) is a happy go lucky guy who lives in Australia with this uncle Chandramohan. He has just completed his studies and he meets a girl Mahalakshmi (Trisha) and falls in love with her at first sight. Mahalakshmi has also completed her studies in Australia. Chandu is trained all forms of martial arts and is itching all the time to get a chance to beat up ruffians but he does not find them anywhere.

Chandu is led to believe by his uncle Chandramohan that he is an orphan. But it is not true. Chandu is the son of Sivayya (Sathyaraj) a strongman in Rayalaseema and he is very much alive. He is regarded as god by the people for his noble deeds. Sivayya has a rival in Kota Srinivasa Rao. As Kota and his brother kill Chandu’s mother and brother when he is young, Sivayya sends away Chandu to Australia as he dos not want his son to be caught in faction politics.

The scene shifts to Kadapa as Mahalakshmi is brought back by Kota as he wants to marry her off to his sister Telangana Shakunthala’s son Venu Madhav. Chandu follows Mahalakshmi to Kadapa. Seeing his valour, Kota assigns the task of bringing his younger brother Supreet back to the village to Chandu. Supreet has been in hiding all these years as he fears that Sivayya and his men will kill him.

Kota then hatches a plan and sends Chandu to take on Sivayya. Kota knows that Chandu is the son of Sivayya but Chandu does not know that his father is Sivayya and he is alive. Kota’s plan is that either Chandu or Sivayya will be killed in the clash and he can take revenge this way.

Will Chandu kill Sivayya or will he get killed in the hands of his own father’s men? This is the suspense element that unfolds on the silver screen.

Performance:

Gopichand plays a suave guy who is brought up in Australia in a convincing fashion. However he is itching all the time to bash up bad guys but does not get a chance for a major part in the first half. It is only after he reaches Kadapa that he comes into his own and shows the aggression that he portrayed in Shouryam and Lakshyam. The fans of Gopichand will not be happy as he plays a rather dull role for a major part of the first half and does not get a chance to bash up goons from the beginning of the film.

Trisha plays a naughty and strong girl. She looks cute in some costumes and in other scenes she is off colour. The chemistry between Gopichand and Trisha is not that perfect and the love scenes between them lack spark and appear very superficial.

Sathyaraj comes up with a neat performance. Chandramoham impresses while Kota is okay. The comedy by Ali, Venu Madhav, Srinivas Reddy and others is just average. Supreet looks very dull while Telangana Shakunthala plays a routine role. The rest of the star cast including LB Sriram have nothing much to do.

The songs and the music is average. It is only the photography that is impressive. The locales in Australia have been shown in a grand manner. The story is pretty simple and the screenplay not that racy and gripping for a film that is about faction politics.

Sankham turn out to be an average fare and the lack of strong villain and confrontation scenes will surely come as a disappointment for all Gopichand fans. The film

is definitely not among the best by Gopichand. .