Kavacham movie review: Bellamkonda Sai Sreenivas, Kajal Aggarwal can't save this low-impact action-thriller

A sincere police officer gets trapped in a kidnapping case and his reputation hangs in balance. All he has is 24 hours to prove his innocence. On a fundamental level, this log line of Kavacham, written and directed by Srinivas Mamilla, seems like an idea with plenty of scope for action and masala moments. Good thing is that he delivers all that and a lot more throughout the film, but on the downside, there’s rarely a moment where you empathise with the characters even when their lives are in danger. And that’s the biggest problem with Kavacham - it’s narrative is almost like playing a video game without any emotional weight. [caption id=“attachment_5691421” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Bellamkonda Sai Sreenivas and Kajal Aggarwal in Kavacham. Image via Twitter[/caption] In the film, Bellamkonda Sai Sreenivas plays Vijay, a sincere police officer in Vizag, which has been witnessing a series of kidnapping cases. Vijay earns the trust of the people who come to the station for help, and one fine day in the process of eliminating gangs in the city, he comes across a young girl (Mehreen), who is ditched by her boyfriend. The two strike a good equation pretty quickly, and Vijay tells her that he was in love with Samyuktha (Kajal Aggarwal); however, we are told that the two haven’t met in a while. Now, his doting mother and his duty are the only two things that are close to his heart. His seemingly perfect life is shattered, one fine day when his mother meets with an accident, and it triggers a series of events which force him to prove his innocence. Kavacham offers a tailor-made role for Bellamkonda Sai Sreenivas, who’s clearly having a ball playing these action-packed roles where he has to flex his muscles, deliver punchy dialogues, and make the stunts seem as authentic as possible. As Vijay, he convincingly pulls off the agility and physique that the character demands from him; however, the lacklustre treatment of the script, which doesn’t reveal anything about Vijay’s personality, makes it really hard to empathise with his character. There’s nothing subtle about Kavacham, be it the action or the pace with which the narrative unfolds. You can guess some of the twists well in advance especially in the latter half of the story, although Srinivas Mamilla does a good job at keeping you guessing about which direction the story is heading in the beginning portions of the thriller. The thing which hampers the film the most is how little it offers to each character. In an attempt to make the film fast-paced, Srinivas Mamilla doesn’t let you soak in the world he has created for the film. There’s never a moment which hits you emotionally, and let’s not even get into why an action thriller gets such a commercial treatment that it loses its whole essence. A lot of things happen throughout the film, but they aren’t interesting enough to command your attention. After a point, it just turns into a powerful guy bashing everything and anyone who’s an obstacle for him. It’s almost like a video game, where the hero has to cross several levels, decode clues, fight the evil guys to reach his destination. Kajal Aggarwal brings her usual charm to the film, but she doesn’t really have much to do to make an impact on the proceedings, and Mehreen is lost in the proceedings. The film has Neil Nithin Mukesh playing a corporate honcho, who has plans of his own, but then, he too gets stuck in a cliched role, who’s constantly outsmarted at every step. Perhaps, the only aspect that the film pulls off quite well is making every action episode big, in every possible sense. The stunts are loaded with glass-shattering, bone-breaking moments, and Thaman’s background score pumps up the adrenaline rush at times. But this doesn’t really change the structure of the story. In the end, Kavacham ends up being a loud, action-packed cop drama which is quite fast-paced, but never interesting enough.