Saikumar’s WOW3 – 20th Sep – R. P. Patnaik, Vijaya Lakshmi, Raghu Kunche, K. M. Radha Krishna

Lucky Baskhar is a 2024 Telugu language crime thriller & family drama film written and directed by Venky Atluri. The film has Dulquer Salmaan & Meenakshi Chaudhary playing the lead roles while Ramki, Maanasa Choudhary, Hyper Aadi, Rithvik, Ananya, Srinath Maganti, Sachin Khedekar, Bhargavi, Sai Kumar, Sarvadaman D. Banerjee, Tinnu Anand, Rajkumar Kasireddy, Mahesh, Sudha, Bindu, Prabhas Sreenu & others are seen in important supporting roles. The music is composed by GV Prakash Kumar while the film is produced by Naga Vamsi S & Sai Soujanya under Sithara Entertainments & Fortune Four Cinemas banners.

Story:

Baskhar Kumar (Dulquer Salmaan) is a regular middle-class man who works as a cashier in Magadha Bank in Mumbai in the 1990s. He is married to Sumathi (Meenakshi Chaudhary) & has a son Karthik (Rithvik) & lives along with his father, sister, and brother. Baskhar is the only breadwinner of his family but his salary isn’t sufficient to look after his whole family. So he decides to embark on a risky investment scheme and soon gets drawn into the murky world of money laundering. How far will he go in this game of money and greed? Forms the crux of the film.

What about on-screen performances?

Dulquer Salmaan is the heart and soul of the film. He delivers one of his career-best performances in the film. He gets to play a wide range of emotions in this film and he does all the scenes with ease. His screen presence is terrific and he excels in the role of a middle-class bank employee. Meenakshi Chaudhary is excellent as Baskhar’s wife Sumathi.

She perfectly fits in with her look as the middle-class housewife and emotes well in all the emotional scenes. Ramki as the friend who helps Bhaskar & Rajkumar Kasireddy as the Bank peon shine in their parts and ably support Dulquer’s character in the first half. Srinath Maganti gives out a decent performance as the agent who works under the Big Bull. Maanasa Choudhary & Hyper Aadi are wasted in limited roles while Sai Kumar does well as the CBI officer.

Sachin Khedekar, Gayatri Bhargavi, Sarvadaman D. Banerjee, Mathew Varghese, Micky Makhija & Sivannarayana are neat in their parts as bank employees. Tinnu Anand, Ananya, Rithvik, Mahesh, Sudha, Bindu, Prabhas Sreenu, Raghu Babu and all others are fine

What about off-screen talents?

The story by Venky Atluri is quite novel and is something that hasn’t been explored in the movies, especially in Telugu. The whole backdrop revolving around the banking sector gives the film a fresh feeling while the drama that happens in the bank and Baskhar’s life makes things more interesting & engaging.

The screenplay is very well written. The film is peppered with good drama and superb high moments that give a nice feeling while watching the film in theatres. Especially the first half is perfectly structured while the momentum created in the first half does dip down a bit in the middle portions of the latter half but the film lifts itself with a thrilling climax sequence along with decent twists & turns. All the characters are introduced neatly in the beginning and the whole bank setup too is well established The whole portions involving Dulquer Salmaan & Ramki are good and the scenes where Baskhar attempts to loot money from the bank will keep us on the edge of the seats.

The interval sequences are the best parts of the film and the climax again ends on a high note. Director Venky Atluri does an extraordinary job with his presentation and his narrative is on point. Telling a story on the banking scams needs a lot of research and he did everything right with his research. Also, the way he builds Baskhar’s characterization is interesting and he presents the film with exciting twists & turns.

The songs by GV Prakash Kumar are superb. The title track is the best one of the album and even the ‘Srimathi Garu’ melody is visually good on screens. His background score too is first-rate. His score in the key moments takes the film to another level. The cinematography by Nimish Ravi is brilliant. He authentically captures the film and his framing is spot on.

The editing by Navin Nooli is crisp and the pace of the film is maintained well. The artwork by Banglan needs a special mention. The whole bank setup and other set work is done aesthetically. The production values by Sithara Entertainment

What’s Hot?
* Dulquer Salmaan’s Performance
* Meenakshi Chaudhary’s Performance
* Fresh Backdrop & Well Written Screenplay
* Superb First Half & Gripping Pre-Interval Scenes
* Very Intelligently Written Scenes
* Good Songs & Kickass Background Score
* All Supporting Artist’s Performances
*Cinematography & Production Values

What’s Not?
* Middle Portions Of Second Half
* VFX In A Few Scenes

Verdict:

On the whole, Lucky Baskhar is a gripping and engaging drama that revolves around the baking sector with a standout performance from Dulquer Salmaan. The brilliant writing along with the well-fleshed-out high moments with good background score peppered all through the film makes this film a must-watch on the big screens!!