Krack movie review: Ravi Teja-Gopichand Malineni's film never gives enough reason to remain immersed in its storytelling

Ravi Teja loves playing a cop on screen, as if that’s the only thing people expect him to see as. As a matter of fact, he seems to relish those roles irrespective of the fate of the film. In Gopichand Malineni’s Krack, he’s a cop with a reputation of being cranky,
especially when he hears the word ‘background’. And it’s this crankiness that shrouds the film like a necessary evil. Let’s face it, when you have named your film as Krack, you have to justify it too. But why is it spelt with a ‘K’ instead of a ‘C’? Maybe
it has a nice ring to it. This lack of reason is something that’s quite ubiquitous in the film too. It’s got a lot going on in its favour, especially in terms of Ravi’s performance, the action sequences, the visuals, and the background score. But at the
same time, it never gives you enough reason to be completely immersed in the storytelling.

Ravi Teja

To justify why Ravi has donned yet another police officer’s role, writer and director Gopichand tries to make the character, Veera Shankar (Ravi) extra special. You can see this in the manner in which the character itself is introduced. For the record, the film has not one, but three introductions for the hero! Why? Because this is a story which revolves around a Rs 50 currency note, a mango, and a metal spike. Veera Shankar is the common factor. One story is about how smart Shankar is, another
is about his real prowess, and the final one is about what might happen when you forget the lessons learnt from the previous two stories. Now you see it? Krack is like a 3-in-1 movie, which offers plenty of ‘masala’ moments while draining you out at the same
time because there’s too much to take in. You never know what’s going to happen next. More than feeling a sense of anticipation, you convince yourself to go with the flow, because Shankar will go berserk when he gets ‘krackified’. That happens a lot and it
keeps the proceedings going.

Varalaxmi Sarathkumar

To Gopichand’s credit, he does have an interesting story to tell in this film. And he reserves his best for the confrontation between Shankar and Katari Krishna (Samuthirakani). The latter is a notorious rowdy in Ongole and along with Jeyamma (Varalaxmi
Sarathkumar) he has the whole system under his control. We even see a band of savages, who relish drinking donkey’s blood and hunt people to death, as Katari Krishna’s cohorts. Samuthirakani and Varalaxmi pull off their roles quite well. This segment in Krack stands out, thanks to the well choreographed stunt sequences, cinematography by GK Vishnu, and Thaman’s background score which is riveting. Ravi is in good form and he slips into the character’s shoes quite easily. And he carries the whole film on his shoulders till the end. Shruti Haasan, who plays Ravi’s wife, is his voice of reason and she springs a big surprise in the latter half of the story. But then, the film doesn’t quite bring the duo’s subplot into its core. No wonder, everyone
forgets that Shankar has a family for a long time in the story.

Ravi Teja and Shruti Haasan

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There are numerous other issues with the film both in terms of storytelling and how much to show in each scene. Krack is violent, and sometimes, unnecessarily so. The most brutal sequence in the entire film is not even the one where the band of savages slit people’s throats and hunt people like a wolf pack. It’s the one which depicts a third-degree torture method in a police station. The film glorifies this form of violence, perpetrated by cops, even more when Shankar threatens another goon that he won’t even think twice about chopping off body parts when he gets cranky. Violence is often celebrated in such action dramas because we are told that it’s the cop’s duty to save the world in the end and there’s no need to go soft on anyone. But in the context of Krack, they have
crossed the line. Perhaps, Gopichand and his team would know if all this was absolutely necessary to justify Shankar’s characterisation and purpose in life.

However, the biggest crack in Krack is evident in its attempt to build a gripping narrative. Each sequence is packed with so many details, some of which just look cool without adding anything to the narrative, that you begin to lose patience at times. A lot seems to be happening, but it doesn’t quite add up. There’s not enough emotion to back the big moments in the story. And just when you are about to give up, Thaman’s background score or yet another stunt sequence commands our attention. There is a long crack which separates the story which Gopichand wants to tell and what he ends up focusing on in each segment. For a story which has so much potential, you really wish it is a little better than what it is, even though the film does come together well enough
to sit till the end.

All said and done, Krack is all about Ravi and he doesn’t disappoint. Who knows, maybe he’ll play a cop yet another time and keep reciting more quirky lines about the greatness of a police officer. For now, he ‘krackifies’ everyone in Krack. This is his ‘Mass
Biryani’.