Krishnudu is different. His size and shape, dialogue delivery do not allow him to be the usual hero of a Telugu feature film. But thanks to ‘Vinayakudu’ series films, he has carved a niche for himself and has a bunch of films in his hands as a hero. He gives a good chance to debutante directors to excel with interesting subjects. His film ‘Pappu – Mr. Intelligent’ also is directed by a debutant. Let’s see how intelligent this film is!

What’s It About: Pappu (Krishnudu), as his name suggests is a 25 year old guy for whom life has left with lot of disappointments, including his size. He is born unlucky and whatever he does works well for others, but never for himself. And he doesn’t worry too much about it either. Pappu meets Radha (Deepika), his boss’ daughter, with whom he falls in love. He doesn’t express it to her keeping his size and luck in his mind.

One fine day, the boss’s daughter is kidnapped and as usual police cannot come to know of the situation. Enter Detective Ram (Subba Raju). But the boss, who trusts a ‘Swamiji’ more than his brother, believes that even the best of detectives won’t help him find his daughter – thanks to his ‘Swamiji’. It is because the Swamiji believes that a most unlucky person on the earth has to accompany the detective to bring some luck in the investigation. And guess who’s that person?

It is our Pappu – because ‘Evadu kodithe thirigi vaadike mindu block avuthundo, vaade Pappu gaadu’.

So Detective Ram and Pappu join hands to find the daughter. What happens next forms the remaining of the story.

What is Good: Now the best part of a film like ‘Pappu’ is that it cannot take itself too seriously, and good that the new director knows that. So the film packs lots of funny scenes. There are scenes in which Pappu feels like a hero, and famous songs from famous films become background music. These scenes evoke laughter.

Subba Raju controls his act very well and delivers a decent performance. As usual Krishnudu is likeable and he performs within his limitations. He’s got dances and fights to do, and he does them creating some most funny moments in the film.

Subba Raju’s and Krishnudu’s equation on screen is nice.

What is bad: While Pappu’s second half is decent, its first half is very boring, though there is enough fun. Even in the second half the emotional balance strays from fun to fun to action to stupidity to unnecessary fight between ‘best friends’ who just met two or three days ago to sadness etc!

The most supposedly melodramatic scene in Pappu is so badly dealt that one could hear people cringe in the hardly filled theatre. The best song in the album comes at the most inappropriate time.

Technical Departments: Ram-Laxman’s fights are decent. Amma Rajasekhar’s choreography keeps Krishnudu’s limitations in mind and hence is funny and watchable.

Music is dealt well in parts. Cinematography and editing are fairly neat. The director will need to work and add a lot of logic to his screenplay so that one can actually talk about his direction rather than how good or bad his screenplay is.

Final Point: The film is purely time pass material, with a small message attached to it at the end. The director Sapan Pasumarthi can be appreciated for taking up the challenge of making a comedy movie on his debut. However, he needs to improve his control over the cinematic medium. His debut film ‘Pappu’, might not come across as intelligent, but will definitely give you some laughs.

Watch this film if you have two hours time to spare or you like the way Krishnudu or Subbaraju carry themselves.