Chiranjeevi is back in style. He has used the age-old Rayalseema faction fights as the base for his Indra, which is a well-made mass entertainer. It is a ‘paisa vasool’ for Chiru fans and the story reminds one of earlier Rajnikanth films like Baashah and Padayappa.

The film opens in the calm surrounding of the river Ganga in Varanasi where a taxi driver Shankar Narayan (Chiranjeevi) along with his nephew, niece and trusted lieutenants Valmiki (Tanikella Bharani) and Giri reside. One day while taking a dip in the Ganges a pearl pendant encircles Shankar. The pendant belongs to the beautiful Pallavi (Sonali Bendre), the daughter of the UP Governer Chenna Kesava Reddy (Prakash Raj). Soon Pallavi falls in love with the taxi driver and the Governor sends his goons to finish him off. But to everybody’s shock, when the Governor sees Shankar he pleads with him to marry his daughter! Meanwhile, Shankar’s right hand man Giri falls in love with his niece, but the wedding is interrupted by a young lady who walks away with Giri. After the interval Valmiki tells the whole story in a flashback. It turns out that Shankar Narayan is none other than the dreaded Rayalseema faction leader Indrasena Reddy, who was at loggerheads with Veerkesava Reddy and family for a very long time. Indra is actually a do-gooder who wants to build a reservoir to store rainwater in the drought-hit area. In a feud with Indra, Kesava Reddy dies and his sons are thirsting for revenge. The revenge drama takes a twist with the arrival of Snehlatha Reddy (Aarthi Agarwal), the only sister of the five brothers led by Veera Shankara Reddy (Mukesh Rishi). At a patch up meeting arranged by the collector Chenna Kesava Reddy, who later becomes the UP governor, Indra surrenders all his wealth and property to the five brothers in return for the land to construct the reservoir. He is also asked to leave Rayalseema and like Lord Rama who leaves his kingdom to the forest (which is Varanasi here) our hero leaves the town. In the climax he comes back and does the obvious.

The film is a total entertainer. The director has used Chranjeevi’s mind-blowing dance numbers to the maximum. Both Sonali and Aarthi look glamorous and have done their best. The film seems to the political launch pad for Chiranjeevi as he has hit out at the present political system in the state. On the whole the film is refreshing and a good entertainer with Chiru at his best.

Verdict: Great Entertainer