Rating - 1.75/5

Despite knowing that the movie has bombed at the box-office, I dared to watch the movie simply because of its visually-appealing trailers.

However, the whole movie was like watching a trailer - highly inconsistent screenplay and very poor editing.

A good film either deals with an entirely new subject or narrates an oft-repeated theme in a novel way. Mallanna (or Kandasamy in Tamil)tried to take the second path and falls flat.

Director Susi Ganeshan, like most of his contemporaries, tried to ape Hollywood / Bond style of film-making and the result is a haphazard screenplay.

Most of the scenes seem unrelated to their predecessors. Combined with illogical editing, the movie gives the viewers a tough time.

The editing is so fast that no frame will allow you to take notice of the location or the art details or even the characters that are involved. My eyes started to feel the strain just after the first fifteen minutes and the situation only got worse.

The movie can easily serve as an (the) example for budding film-makers on how not to make a film. All the departments, barring Devi's music and to some extent Taran's art work, failed miserably.

Devi's Mallanna leitmotif sounds better with visuals and his background score is brilliant.

Digital Intermediate is highly inconsistent and the whole Mexico episode looks dark and out of place.

Vikram is good with his hen-like mannerisms, in the lady get up, and as a cool CBI officer. Shriya is more of a vamp and is quite disgusting. It's good to see yesteryear Telugu actor Krishna after a long time while Prabhu is okay.

I still don't understand how an experienced producer like K.S.Thanu invested more than Rs.50 crore on such a weak script and the reason for the movie to take two years to complete. A far superior film like Magadheera was completed in one and a half year.

Yet, there are a few positives about the movie.

1. The Mallanna get up

2. The fund transfer episode

3. Mallanna's warning against silly requests

4. Titles Rolling against Mallanna's backdrop

PS: Watch Magadheera again instead of Mallanna unless you are a great fan of Vikram or want to see Shriya's skin show.

Music Director Devi Sri Prasad comes up with yet another recycled album in the form of King. Except for a few sporadic moments where Devi gives us glimpses of his famed faculty, the audio is tame and would go down as yet another run-of-the-mill. The Nagarjuna-starrer is definitely one of the most anticipated movies this year. Nag has already teamed with Devi twice for Manmadhudu and Mass. While Manmadhudu's music was a class apart, the same cannot be said of Mass, which still managed to gain considerable attention.

Coming back to King, King audio stands very close to Mass and far off from Manamdhudu. You cannot entirely blame Devi for the poor show, because the lyrics by Ramajogayya Shastry are such a big let down, especially in Nenu Nee Raja and Nuvvu Ready, that they demand no great music. But Ghanana (Funny) version is a good attempt.

However, Devi should seriously consider changing his orchestration. As for the mentioned occasional brilliance, the song Ghanana Ghanana and to some extent the tile song and Manmadhuda justify why Devi is still the most sought after composer.

My ratings

1. King - 2.5/5
2. A to Z - 2-5
3. O Manmadhuda - 3/5
4. Yenthapani Chesthiviro - 1.5/5
5. Ghanana Ghanana- 3.5/5
6. Nenu Nee Raja - 1.5/5
7. Ghanana (Funny) - 3.5/5
8. Nuvvu Ready - 1.5/5
9. King (The DSP Mix) - 1.75/5