Patel S.I.R – Movie Review

‘Patel S.I.R’, an action film starring Jagapathi Babu as the protagonist, has been released. Let’s find to know whether it’s worth watching or can be given a miss…

What’s the story?

Subash Patel (Jagapathi Babu) is a retired army man whose blood is on a constant boil. Throughout the first half, you see him hunting down certain goons: Kalakeya Prabhakar first, Prudhvi next…

All of these are linked to DR (Kabir Duhan Singh), who is seething with impotent rage at the thought of being perished and lives in Dubai. A Minister (Raghu Babu) doing DR’s bidding recruits a special officer (Tanya Hope) to find out the mystery man who is doing all the murders.

Patel’s actual target is DR, who is coming to India. It’s at this juncture that the 60-year-old man can’t rise to the occasion. What follows next is a flashback throwing up a family drama, followed by another bout of violence.

What Works!

The brain behind Jagapathi’s look deserves kudos. The senior star improvises upon his salt-n-pepper look to go full grey. The trendy beard and silky hair-do add to his appeal. In the scenes where he plays that grumpy grandpa who pines for fun with grandchildren, Jaggu Bhai is adorable. His performance is sole attraction.

DJ Vasanth’s BGM works to an extent. An inspired tune, symbolizing the emotional bond between the baby girl and Jaggu, is soothing.

The movie’s story seems to be inspired by a good thriller called ‘Vengeance’ (2009) by Johnnie To. The film had this plotline: A French chef swears revenge after a violent attack on his daughter’s family in Hong Kong, during which her husband and her two children are murdered.

What Doesn’t Work!

The film suffers from fumbling screenplay.The whole ambience smells of ’90s-era revenge stuff. We saw the teaser and trailer.  We then heard the makers say that family drama too is there in the movie. This was enough for us to imagine 90 per cent of the story. The film just throws up the same.

The film goes to and fro from past to present and vice-versa, as if it were some mind-blowing thriller.

Tanya Hope is a special officer who would give the dumb cop of ‘Kesava’ a run for her money. There is clear evidence (the baby’s toy) lying at one murder spot, but it escapes her attention. On one nice occasion though, she is seen in a hot bikini.

Technical departments do a shoddy job. Vaarahi is a banner known for sensible budgets, but that might hold good for a family entertainer or a rom-com. An actioner needs bigger investments to impress the audience at least on the technical front.

Performance Score

The only factor that works for the movie is Jagapathi’s performance.  His confident swagger in some of the scenes makes him one of the earnest actors out there. He comes with two shades.

The baby girl is so-so in her expressions. Padmapriya Janakiraman in an important role passes muster. Tanya Hope disappoints as she is portrayed more like a vamp. Kabir is a total disappointment, while Prabhakar and others don’t deserve a mention.

Final Verdict: ‘Patel S.I.R’ has enough scope to be a neat revenge drama. But a faulty screenplay and direction spoils the proceedings completely.