Shamanthakamani – Movie Review

Story:

Shamanthakamani, a luxury vintage car, is stolen from a hotel premises on the night when a big party was being held. The car belongs to Krishna (Sudheer Babu), son of businessman Jagannadham (Suman). After watching CCTV footage, Police Inspector Ranjith Kumar (Nara Rohith) suspects some guys – Shiva (Sundeep Kishan), Uma Mahesh (Rajendra Prasad) and Karthik (Aadhi). Who stole the Rs 5cr worth Rolls Royce?

Analysis
 Thrillers like ‘Shamanthakamani’ run on template storylines. This genre works only when they are narrated in gripping way and in lot of fun manner. Writer and director Sriram Adithya, who debuted with interesting thriller ‘Bhale Manchi Roju’, has reserved all the best moments for the second half. By end of the interval, you feel like nothing much has happened for the past one hour. That feeling subsides once it begins to unfold the interesting drama post interval.
 
All the four suspects and the one who filed report of car theft were in drunken stupor on that night. So, how would they recall? This thread reminds us of 2009 Hollywood movie “The Hangover”. As each character is telling his version, the plot thickens and suspense builds on who really stole it? The revelation of the real stealer is quite interesting. As said, the movie begins on dull note but ends nicely.
 
‘Shamanthakamani’ works due to the moments in the second half, comedian Raghu Karumanchi’s dialogues and some honest and sincere performances from the lead actors.
 
The film has given equal space to all lead actors. Nara Rohith as inspector has come up with good act. Despite limited role,
 
Sundeep Kishan shows his mark as the village boy Shiva. He leaves his impression. Sudheer Babu looks handsome and has come up with sincere act. Aadhi is also neat. But of all these actors, it is Raghu Karumanchi who makes the film worth a watch. 
 
Technically, the film has many merits – first-rate cinematography (Sameer Reddy) and right BGM (Manisharma). As writer and director, Sriram Aditya impresses in some parts but his work is not that impressive as is his first film.
 
Bottom-line: ‘Shamanthakamani’ is a fun thriller about car theft. The interrogation episodes, second half and some comic dialogues have worked out despite flimsy storyline and dull first half. Overall, a time pass watch.