Acharya review: Chiranjeevi, Ram Charan can’t salvage this predictable action drama

After delivering four highly enjoyable commercial entertainers laden with social messages in Mirchi, Srimanthudu, Bharat Ane Nenu and Janatha Garage; filmmaker Koratala Siva returns with the highly anticipated Acharya. Unfortunately, it ends up as his weakest work and as one of those movies you’d only want to watch because it has both Chiranjeevi and Ram Charan together. In spite of all the hype, Acharya ends up as a largely predictable action drama that needed better writing. Also read: Acharya trailer: Fans feel Ram Charan has overshadowed father Chiranjeevi: 'He has evolved into something else'

The story is set in a fictional temple town called Dharmasthali where wannabe-MLA Basava (Sonu Sood) rules with an iron fist. He controls the village with various illegal activities and nobody dares lift a finger against him. Padaghattam is a settlement on the other side of Dharmasthali and both the places are divided by a river. The people of the village are helpless and hope to be rescued from the clutches of Basava. One day, Acharya (Chiranjeevi) arrives as a visitor to Dharmasthali, but nobody knows his purpose of visit. At night, he turns into a vigilante.

Meanwhile, the forest of Siddhavanam catches the attention of a businessman called Rathod (Jisshu Sengupta), who wants to encroach it for illegal mining. But Siddha (Ram Charan), a gurukul boy, looks after Siddhavanam, and poses a great threat for Rathod. 

Acharya drowns in its mediocre writing for the most part. The film hardly brings in any surprise element to keep you engaged. It wants the audience to wonder about Acharya’s identity and what brought him to Dharmasthali. But the promotional material of the film already revealed it. Therefore, when his real identity is revealed, there’s barely any excitement left. Also, most of the scenes are so predictable that you can easily guess how it’ll end. Despite both Chiranjeevi and Ram Charan trying their best to keep the film afloat, Acharya fails to live up to the hype and struggles to keep the entertainment factor alive.

The subplot involving Ram Charan is more exciting than the one involving Chiranjeevi. But the scenes involving both of them are probably the film’s best moments. Unfortunately, you’d hope for a better film that brings Chiranjeevi and Ram Charan together, because this isn’t something that happens very often. Acharya doesn’t live up to the expectations one would have from the combination of these two superstars coming together.

Film: Acharya

Director: Koratala Siva

Cast: Chiranjeevi, Ram Charan, Pooja Hegde, Sonu Sood and Jisshu Sengupta