Plot: Ramakrishna ‘Rikki’ had wanted to work for RAW since he was a young boy. His desire is almost realised when he meets Colonel Mahadev, also known as “The Devil,” who gives him the assignment to apprehend “The God,” a former corrupt RAW agent who left the organisation and founded his own crime syndicate in Budapest. When Rikki is held responsible for Mahadev’s death and he dies, a simple job turns awry. He embarks on a campaign to disprove his guilt and take down “The God” and his organisation.
Cast: Akhil Akkineni, Mammootty Dino Morea, Sakshi Vaidya, Vikramjeet Virk
Director: Surendar Reddy
Rating: ⭐⭐
Review:
Agent, a highly anticipated action thriller in Tollywood, has generated a lot of buzz. Akhil Akkineni underwent an intensive physical transformation and worked on this film for nearly two years. The story revolves around Ricky, a man who dreams of becoming a RAW agent since childhood. Ricky’s idol is RAW Chief Mahadev, also known as Devil, who recruits him to finish off God, the head of a syndicate trying to take control of all businesses in India.
Akhil’s dedication to his role as a spy is evident in his performance, despite the poorly written character. His portrayal of a wild agent has its ups and downs, and some moments work better than others. However, Akhil struggles in the more significant mass moments, such as intense scenes and commercial cinema’s loudness. While he does show improvement in lighter scenes, he still has room to grow. Sakshi Vaidya’s role as the lead actress lacks presence, and she is unremarkable, with nothing much to do other than add glamour to a few romantic scenes.
Mammootty, a legendary Malayalam superstar, shines as RAW agent Devil, adding gravitas to the otherwise dull proceedings. Although the part of the enemy God, played by Dino Morea, is well-cast but it’s weak. Director Surender Reddy picks up all the recent tropes associated with spy genre movies, with the only difference being Akhil’s characterisation. Unfortunately, it falls short of expectations.
The writing and scenes are lacklustre, and the love track involving the lead pair fails to provide entertainment. The forgettable songs and their picturisation add to the disappointment. However, the camera work is impressive, and HipHop Tamizha’s songs are passable. The background score impresses in parts, but the story follows a typical action film pattern, lacking originality.
Overall review
Agent falls short of truly belonging to either zone, and ends up as a below-average action film. The effort put into foreign locations and over-the-top action sequences could have been better used in creating an engaging plot with better characterisation. Overall, Agent is a disappointment that fails to live up to the hype.