Possibly there was too much hype and advance publicity for the much-awaited Chiranjeevi film Shankar Dada Zindabad. If you discount much of the hype and expectations, you will really enjoy the movie and the interesting manner in which 'Gandhigiri' has been delivered without any preaching. A remake of Lage Raho Munnabhai, and a sequel of Munnabhai M.B.B.S., it is a clean entertainer. The bonus is Chiranjeevi's acting and tuneful appropriate music.
The film is about how a local dada is transformed into a good-natured and law-abiding citizen by adopting Gandhigiri.
Shankar Dada and his accomplice Srikanth ATM make a living by kidnapping people, settling land disputes, etc. They work for Rajalingam (Sayaji Shinde). Shankar Dada is impressed by the voice of Jahnavi (Karishma Kotak) a radio jockey. He listens to her programme every day and falls in love with her. He wins in a contest on Gandhigiri and gets a chance to meet her in person.
He starts learning about Gandhi in order to impress her. Jahnavi is a kind-hearted soul who gives shelter to some aged people in her home. Gandhiji starts appearing before Shankar Dada and starts preaching to him the virtues of honesty, tolerance and non-violence. The villain forcibly evicts the heroine and the aged people from their rented house. Shankar Dada is advised by Gandhiji to adopt peaceful means to get the house back. Shankar Dada adopts this method, becomes a radio jockey and also starts helping people with his programme on radio. The hero finally manages to bring about a change in the villain and the film ends on a happy note with the hero and heroine coming together.
The highlights of the film are Chiranjeevi's acting. Moreover, the entire track between the Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi and Shankar Dada is exceptional. Chiranjeevi lives the character of Munna. He gets the best of lines and delivers them with relish. His is a wonderful, larger-than-life performance and he knows just how to present Shankar Dada best.
Dilp Prabhawalkar also gives an impressive performance as Gandhi. Srikanth and Sayaji Shinde are good. Karishma Kotak fails to impress. She does not have the charm of some of the leading ladies in Tollywood. Prabhudeva's direction is appropriate and follows the Hindi version closely. Music by Devi Sri Prasad and cinematography by Chota K. Naidu are good. Comedy is just average. Pawan Kalyan, Allu Arjun, Naga Babu, Prabhu Deva, Ravi Teja and Devi Sri Prasad make brief appearances in the film. The film has a good story but is different from the typical entertainers that Chiranjeevi's fans expect.
