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This is an archive article published on March 1, 2024

Chaari 111 movie review: Vennela Kishore’s Johnny English act misses the mark

Chaari 111 movie review: Chaari 111, starring Vennela Kishore, Samyuktha Vishwanathan, Murali Sharma, might appeal to lovers of illogical comedy.

Rating: 2 out of 5
Chaari 111Chaari 111 has hit screens in Telugu states.

Vennela Kishore is one of the leading comedians in Telugu cinema. He features in almost every other film released in Telugu. Kishore has also played the lead role in a couple of forgettable movies. After many years, he returns to being the lead in the Johnny English-inspired comic caper, Chaari 111.

Directed by TG Keerthi Kumar, who made his debut with the Sumanth-starrer Malli Modalaindi, has borrowed a lot of material for this film from British comedies and Bond movies. An elite spy agency Rudra Netra (a hat-tip to Chiranjeevi’s spy actioner Rudra Netra), headed by ex-military officer Prasada Rao (Murali Sharma), becomes aware of a blast that takes place in Hyderabad, in which a human turns into a bomb and explodes. After the government requests serious action from the agency, Prasad Rao reluctantly assigns the job to Agent Chaari (Vennela Kishore). His main gripe is that Agent Chaari handles all jobs with utter lack of seriousness, and though the missions may be successful, they cause a lot of headache to the agency chief.

Chaari is joined by Agent Eesha (Samyuktha Vishwanathan) and Bunty (Thagubothu Ramesh) on the mission. Comedian Sathya plays Q here. The investigation leads to a team headed by a chemist who has devised a way to turn naturally produced chemicals in the human gut into explosives. A Kashmiri woman from Major Prasada Rao’s past may have designed these weapons, now brought back in circulation by her son Ravan.

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Chaari and his team now have to track the makers of the chemical bombs before they cause more havoc in the country and also target Prasada Rao due to old bad blood between them. The first half runs without much of a story, focusing mostly on the stupid, funny acts of Chaari and his team. Lots of references to spy films are thrown around, along with other comic fight sequences.

The comedy is mostly dialogue-oriented, non-sequential and illogical. If you are prepared to suspend your brain activity, you may laugh a bit. But this same nonsensical comedy could also be designed much better. Johnny English, Mr Bean, and other examples are already there. The danger of the explosive pill never really threatens any major character. The villain attains a threatening Bane image, only to be cut down by an unnecessary sister character.

Ramesh does a good job with his limited screen time. Satya works hard to impress in the half-baked role. Murali Sharma takes most of the screen time, even threatening to eat up the hero. This may have reduced the comic feel of the movie. Samyuktha Vishwanathan impresses, particularly in the initial action sequences. Vennela Kishore delivers his usual performance.

Chaari 111 might appeal to lovers of illogical comedy.

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Chaari 111 movie cast: Vennela Kishore, Samyuktha Vishwanathan, Murali Sharma, Satya, Thagubothu Ramesh
Chaari 111 movie director: TG Keerthi Kumar
Chaari 111 movie rating: 2 stars

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