68. Amigos; movie review

 

AMIGOS

Cert 15

137 mins

BBFC advice: Contains strong bloody violence, threat, language

"Crikey, can you imagine there being six more people who look like us?"

Mrs W was aghast at the scientific premise of Amigos that we all have half a dozen Doppelgangers somewhere across the world.

The very notion poses a bag of questions. Would they be the same age? Would they have the same battles with expanding midriffs and (in my case) hair loss? 

Or is there a better, younger, less achy version of us somewhere? And would we really like to meet them?

Nandamuri Kalyan Ram's character, Siddharth, cannot resist when he discovers a website on which lookalikes are registered.

Thus, he finds a geeky bespectacled version of himself called Manju and Michael, who is rather more self-assured.

At the same time, he has fallen in love with a radio presenter (Ashika Ranganath) who is playing hard to get. Should I mention that this is yet another Indian film in which a middle-aged man is chasing a woman 20 years his junior?

I digress.

Actually, misgivings over ages and daft premise aside, Rajendra Reddy has created an engaging thriller which has a few laughs along the way.

And, fair play to Ram, he manages to carry off three very different roles pretty effectively.

Meanwhile, prolific Telugu cinema veteran Brahmaji plays Siddharth's uncle and key advisor as his relationship with his lookalikes unravels horribly.

Oh, and the violence is harsh and plentiful and ratchets up considerably as the movie progresses

Reasons to watch: Unusual doppelganger premise

Reasons to avoid: Some daft plot moments

Laughs: None

Jumps: None

Vomit: None

Nudity: None

Overall rating: 7//10

Did you know? In real life, there is way of looking for Doppelgangers on the FamilySearch website.

The final word. Kalyan Ram: "The story itself was very compelling which made me believe in him (director Rajendra Reddy) The way he narrated the film is superb. Generally. there would be grey shades for the protagonist in our movies, but in Amigos, the hero himself is the villain. There is only one heroine." 123 Telugu

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