Chatrapathi: Sreenivas Bellamkonda’s remake of Prabhas’ blockbuster is tolerable yet unnecessary

SS Rajamouli, who enjoys a 100% success record in his filmography, didn’t only give Prabhas the biggest hit of his career - Baahubali - but also played a crucial role in cementing the actor’s stature as an action hero in his early years. After Prabhas forayed into films with Eeshwar and scored a big hit like Varsham later, he had a flurry of flops and needed a biggie to stabilise his career - that’s when SS Rajamouli came to him with Chatrapathi and the rest is history.

Chatrapathi provided a strong foundation to the career of Prabhas, so good enough that his flops didn’t deter his momentum later. While the film, without doubt, has a good story, it is by no means original or novel. The core characterisation and the conflicts in the film are heavily borrowed from 70s Hindi cinema - the films with Amitabh Bachchan and writers Salim-Javed in particular.

As a story, it isn’t even old wine in a new bottle and tailors the lost-and-found formula as per the strengths of Prabhas. Some of its sequences were directly lifted from classics like Deewar, Sholay. When VV Vinayak chose to remake a film whose storytelling paradigm is a product of popular Hindi cinema, it certainly surprised many. Chatrapathi, in its Hindi version with Bellamkonda Sreenivas, needed an upgrade and re-imagination to work with audiences.

Not all mass films need to be very today in their world and setup but there’s a certain necessity to make it relevant for the average viewer. The film is aimed at the audience that hasn’t watched the Prabhas’ version yet but is a joyless watch for those who have. Filmmaker VV Vinayak, with a 124-minute-long narrative, opts for a racier screenplay, goes larger-than-life with the action sequences but bafflingly compromises on the emotional connect.

The director, who also launched Sreenivas in Telugu cinema, is quite aware of his strengths and limitations as an actor. He intentionally tones down the drama and gives the actor complete license to go full throttle with the action and dance segments. He pays a price for the tactical error. While the rawness of the action sequences were a major highlight of the original, they feel quite mechanical here and the absence of a rooted setting/world hurts the film’s cause too.

Shriya’s role in SS Rajamouli’s version was no golden standard for a female lead and VV Vinayak lowers the bar further with Nushrratt Baruccha’s character that has nothing to offer beyond the song-dance routine. There’s no space for comical relief here (surprising). The protagonist’s struggle doesn’t make any impact because he always seems invincible and the baddies appear weak.

Bhagyashree’s superficial performance and the under-utilisation of Sharad Kelkar’s potential undermine the impact further. The surprise package is Karan Singh Chabbra as Sreenivas’ on-screen step brother - he has an unusual screen presence that works in his favour. Ravi Basrur’s score and Tanishk Bagchi’s songs are just about passable.

Though the Hindi version of Chatrapathi may be a washout, it isn’t a terrible watch. Yet, it doesn’t break any new ground either. VV Vinayak, with his experience in handling remakes, should’ve known this better.