The Telugu film Boni has all the commercial staples -- action, songs (two shot in foreign locales), a bit of romance -- of a potboiler. It's technically pretty slick too with good camera work by Andrews and fairly good editing.
Sumanth, Nagarjuna's nephew makes a comeback after a year and a half. Boni also stars a fresh face -- Krithi Kharbanda. Ramana Gogula's music sounds great. Debutant director Raj Pippala builds up a wafer thin story into a film. Yet one finds that it is a mish-mash of sorts with something missing.
The story is set in Hyderabad. DD (Sumanth) and Chinna (Trinethrudu) are thick buddies who grow up in an orphanage where they are under Saraswathamma (Sudha's) foster care. When she dies they want to realise her dream of setting up a tiffin centre selling different varieties of pulihora (tamarind rice). As they grow up they join Giri (Tanikella Bharani) a local don and indulge in acquiring hafta. They save up some money to start the tiffin centre but the girl (who is not shown) whom Sumanth loves runs away with that money. So these boys start all over again. This time around DD wants to join Das (Jayaprakash Reddy) as he pays more. So Giri talks to Das and gets DD on to him.
DD first assignment is to kidnap Pragati (minister's daughter). Now Pragati is unlike her father. She wants to help the peasants of a particular village get possession of the land which is taken by the evil person planted there by the father and her uncle. She realises her father goes against her wishes after promising to give the land back to the peasants. She runs away to her friend and plans to stage a kidnap. But she really gets kidnapped by DD and Chinna. In this process, DD falls in love with Pragati. He is asked to kill Pragati? Will he? There is also the drama and tension of the real versus the fake people in the kidnap case. Who will win is anyone's guess.
There's really not much of a story and it is the screenplay which heightens the drama and tension. As a story there's nothing new except the bit about social issues. There are also some so-called comedy scenes with Sathyam Rajesh and Naresh but they hardly induce any laughs.
Raj Pippala must be given some credit for the slightly different styling and presentation. He has made the film technically sound too. Music composer Ramana Gogula turns producer with this film. His songs are scintillating, melodious and not jarring to the ears. But somehow one feels the film could have been better.
Sumanth returns to action wiht muscles flexed. He also puts a good effort in acting as well giving the required emotions when needed. Trinethrudu, who plays his friend, complements Sumanth. Bharanim, always a good actor, does well here too. JP Reddy too fits his role. Krithi Kharbanda looks fresh and pretty and manages to play the part of Pragati in a fairly convincing way. She may have to work on her expressions a bit in future, though.
Some of Boni's highlights are its music by Ramana Gogula, camera work by Andrews and acting by Sumanth and Bharani. All in all a glossy effort if you can overlook the loose ends.
Rediff Rating: 
