After the average verdict received by his last release Gautham Nanda, where he had played dual roles for the first time in his career, Action hero Gopichand is back on screens, this time around with director Jothikrishna, who had previously made the disastrous flicks like Nee Manasu Naaku Telusu and Jadhoo. Here's team AP Herald's exclusive first on the net review of the combo's latest offering Oxygen.
The film is all about the protagonist (Gopichand), who has everything in his life but faces huge personal losses after the unanticipated entry of a crime gang in his life. How he traced the criminals, took retribution for his losses and saved his remaining beloved ones while also destroying the crime empire and exposing them is what the action and sentiment packed Oxygen is all about.
True to his tag of an action hero, Gopichand impresses with his macho looks and also emotes perfectly in the sentimental sequences. Anu Emmanuel has taken the glamorous route this time, and her role is limited to that of an eye candy. Raashi Khanna is beautiful and has attempted to perform this time, and her efforts are visible on the screen. Jagapathi Babu plays the cliched dad role with consummate ease, and the rest of the cast including Shaam, Brammaji are convincing. Abhimanyu Singh and the other antagonists Ashish Vidyarthi and Sayaji Shinde look more like caricatures and aren't menacing.
Yuvan Shankar Raja's BGM is loud and jarring, and even his songs don't appeal much, with only the o Kshanam and Aakaasam numbers passing the muster. Chota K Naidu and Vetri's Cinematography is top notch as they've captured stunning action sequences beautifully.
Editing by SB Uddhav fails big time, as oxygen drags pointlessly in the second half.After failing twice with love stories, Nee Manasu Naaku Telusu and Jadhoo, and with his source of support, dad AM Ratnam's sabbatical after numerous failures, the dad and son combo have struck back, this time with a story penned by Ratnam himself. Set at the backdrop of a medical mafia and lacing it with family sentiments, Jothikrishna fails Badly in balancing between action sequences and emotional ones, as none of the romantic tracks possess depth, nor does the action scenes have the goosebumps generating mass appeal to it.
With cliched villain characters and a very predictable screenplay, the drags in the second half and that unwarranted item song and bad song placements overall ruin the output that the audience gets to see as Oxygen. All said, Oxygen is a costly attempt gone awry, thanks to poor, unimaginative screenplay and pathetic execution, leaving Gopichand with yet another career destroying failure.
