Ok, so now all hopes of having a real ‘kick’ at the movies are dashed! With the global meltdown, multiplex-producers strike, and uncertain political scenario you would at least expect to enjoy the movies, but none of them are good. Period. Balakrishna’s Mithrudu was simply pathetic, Veedokkade was nothing special, and looking at posters of Kick I really thought this would be the one–alas, Tollywood directors simply seem to have lost touch of content. Again, Kick is a case of good designer posters—a pretty and juicy Illeana in goya posters and nice thighs—quick camera movements, loud music, mandatory/mechanical comedy scenes, but no story worth telling.
Kalyan (Ravi Teja) is a cool dude who wants to do things in life that give him a kick. This kick could be sadistic too like putting your friend in trouble and just being silly and mischievous. Kalyan changes jobs every few days if he feels there is no ‘kick’ in it. So basically our hero is like a seeker of ‘kick’. Meet Naina (Illeana) for whom Kalyan falls in love with, but Naina is not willing to love Mr. Kick because he is idiotic. The entire first half just goes on aimlessly with Kalyan and Naina figuring out who gives whom a kick and some silly comedy from Brahmanandam. This really silly love story between Kalyan and Naina is being narrated by Naina to her soon-to-be engaged top cop of AP, Kalyan Krishna (Syaam, introducing). Apparently, the couple break up because Mr. Kick loses kick in the software job he got for his girl friend, left it in 4 days, but has been lieing to her about it. So they break up because in this heated conversation, Mr. Kick refers to their love as “thokalo” love. This cop too has come to Malaysia looking for a thief who happens to be Mr. Kick. Apparently, Mr. Kick realizes the job that gives him the most kick—charity. Yes, he determines that the smile on a kid is what gives him a kick so he begins looting all the ill-gotten wealth of the city’s big shots and donates to orphanages (remember Shankar’s Gentleman). The second half is again full of senseless and silly sceines between Ravi Teja, Illeana, Brahmanandam, Ali etc and parallely there are chases between Mr. Kick and the Cop. Finally, it all ends well with the Cop being transferred because he couldn’t catch this thief and Mr. Kick comes in as the new Cop; again, he has written and passed the IPS only because his girl friend wants him to also be an IPS, in addtion to Doctor, Software, Engineer etc.
Even with all the emphasis on ‘kick’ in the movie, there is absolutely nothing kickworthy in this film. The
comedy is stale and flat. Brahmanandam’s act (as Halwa Raj) is now becoming repetitive and stale. Ali’s act is useless. Ravi Teja, as usual, puts in his best effort thought it is highly repetitive, but the story itself has no ‘kick’. Ravi Teja fans and fans of comedy in general will be sorely dissapointed with the quality of comedy in this film. It must be mentioned here that Ravi Teja is looking aged, haggard, and unhealthy. Illeana is the only sweet thing about this film and it is only because she is on the posters that you would want to watch this film. The film opens with Illeana doing yoga in tight tops with the camera moving close to her chest and so on. Illeana seems to have put on some weight and she looks juicy, but the babe just cannot act. New boy Syaam is deadly and looks macho. The cop-thief thread is similar to Dhoom.
The songs are good with Gore…song being the highlight although the taking is just so-so. The biggest problem with the film is there is no story; the first half is just plain and whatever senseless story exists begins in the second half. The motivating scene/theme that makes Ravi Teja realize his kick is just not convincing and it is not something one expects from a Ravi Teja summer starrer with a funky title like Kick. Ravi Teja’s politically flavored dialogue about why politicians don’t have any welfare schemes for kids (because they can’t vote) is plain silly— the parents will vote if their kids have welfare schemes. The director, Surender Reddy, dissapoints and there is no nativity in this film. I am not sure why the film has to be based in Malaysia (Billa, Mithrudu and now Kick all are shot in Malaysia, whats with that!).
Phew…this is turning out to a boring summer at the Movies. When the film begins you are determined to enjoy this one as you want a summer entertainer, but as the film rolls you have to force yourself to laugh at this stale script. Just stay at home, put on an old DVD, and enjoy those good times of Movies.
Mr. Inkenti’s Movienomics Verdict: Thumbs Down. There really no kick in this one.
