RGV’s officer falls flat
Director Ram Gopal Varma and Nagarjuna come together for just the fourth time in nearly two decades after their classic Shiva in 1989. That generates a fair bit of curiosity, and RGV is looking for a big break to regain his touch as director.
As with most of RGV’s films, Officer is a cop drama. Narayan Pasari (Anwar Khan) is a popular police officer in Mumbai who is eliminating the mafia in the city. After a few encounters, the court orders an inquiry into Pasari’s methods, and appoints Sivaji Rao (Nagarjuna), a Hyderabad police officer, to investigate.
Sivaji Rao arrives in Mumbai and begins his investigation only to get information that Pasari is also involved with the mafia. He is not able to produce his witness in court. Pasari comes out unscathed and starts a mafia of his own. Sivaji Rao joins the crime branch in Mumbai to take on Pasari.
RGV is known for making films with a mafia-police backdrop. So when he rejoins with a top actor like Nagarjuna, the expectations are high. RGV has said that the film is based on a real police officer, and has talked about the new sound technique he has used for the film.
Sadly, RGV once again fails to provide an interesting film. He concentrates on the technicalities like the camera and background score, while ignoring the story. A cop turning into a don could make for an interesting plot, but RGV doesn’t establish it strongly.
The typical Varma fare of action scenes, blood, guns and gangsters is there and these are wasted without a proper narrative. The first half is interesting with a cop investigating another cop. RGV doesn’t project the happenings well once the cop decides to go underground.
There is no emotional connect in any scene between Nagarjuna and his daughter or with his parents. The track between the lady cop (Myra Sarin) and Nagarjuna is also not established in an interesting manner.
Officer therefore becomes a regular cop-and-mafia RGV film and does not have anything new. The audience wants an interesting subject with good production values and does not bother much about the technology in use. RGV concentrates on weird camera angles, sound techniques and close-ups, while not focusing on the story.
Nagarjuna fits the role of the cop perfectly. He is 55-plus, but shows his fitness especially in action scenes. The saving grace of the film, he cannot do much because of the weak plot. Anwar Khan does a good job with the negative role.
Myra Sarin, who is introduced in the film, gets a weak role, and she is not impressive. Ajay looks good as a cop. Child actress Kavya surprises with her performance. Sayaji Shinde appears in a cameo, and his scene with Nagarjuna is silly.
Cinematography is by Rahul Penumatsa and the visuals are good in patches. Some of the camera angles are weird and not comfortable. RGV captures the action scenes in different angles, which is not really necessary.