STARRING : Krishna Bhagavan, Simran, Sayaji Shinde, Ali, Jeeva and others
MUSIC : Kiran Varanasi
DIRECTOR : Kuchipudi Venkat
Below Average
Story
John Appa Rao 40+ was touted as a comedy film but in the end, it is neither a comedy not a tragedy and this is the tragedy.
Appa Rao (Krishna Bhagavan) is a fashion designer. He stays in Visakhapatnam and pulls along with some close friends like Rajesh, Melkote, Jeeva etc. He delays his marriage due to family burdens. By the time he comes out of his problems, he is already 40+.
He tries for various alliances but none works out. At this time, a beautiful girl Pravalika (Simran) enters his life. She asks Appa Rao to design a dress for her and she is so impressed with it that she decides to take Appa Rao with her to UK and set up a big designer clothes showroom.
Appa Rao thinks that she is in love with him and hence he decides to go with her to the UK. At this time comes the interval bang when we learn that Simran is actually doing all this at the behest of a big SI agent in India John alias Masthan Bhai.
What is Simran’s background and why she is doing all this is revealed after the interval. We learn that Simran is actually a BBC journalist. She wants san exclusive interview with John alias Masthan bhai. But Masthan bhai sets a condition for this. He wants her to help him to leave Hyderabad and go to Dubai. John and another partner Razack (Sayaji Shinde) are wanted for planting a bomb at Rythu Bazar in Mehdipatnam in which hundreds of innocents are killed.
Appa Rao looks similar to Masthan bhai so Simran plans to get Appa Rao killed and then smuggle Masthan out of the country as Appa Rao. The rest of the story is what happens to Appa Rao and whether he is killed or not.
Performance: Krishna Bhagavan plays a dual role in the film. One is as Appa Rao 40+ who is a fashion designer. The second is as the dreaded ISI agent Masthan bhai. Krishna Bhagavan excels in his role as Appa Rao. His role as the ISI agent and his different getups however are not that convincing. His mannerism as a dreaded gangster does not come out effectively.
Simran is okay as a journalist. She looks glamorous in some scenes. At other times, her age shows and the wrinkles on her face are clearly visible. Sayaji Shinde looks stylish with his French beard. The rest of the star cast goes about their jobs in a routine manner.
The film boasts of comedians like Ali, Jeeva, Venu Madhav, Raghu Babu, Rajesh and others but most of the time, the comedy falls flat. The music is also average and all the songs are remix songs. The song “Ennenno Janmala Bandham Needi Naadi” on Krishna Bhagavan and Simran has been shot on a boat with some very scenic background.
The film runs along smoothly in the first half, but in the second half, the film runs very slowly. The songs and comedy track do not add much to the film except to test the patience of the audience. The film has nothing much going for it. The film may be of some interest to some of the 40+ male audiences.
