Radhika Rajamani feels Mr Nookayya can be given a miss.
Director Ani Kanneganti begins Mr Nookayya fairly well, with plenty of action, villains, and suspense, but the energy seems to peter out.
Nookayya, an orphan, steals mobile phones (Nokia, get it?) and sells them to make money. He is in love with a waitress (Sana Khan) who wants him to make lots of money. In a separate track Anuradha (Kriti Kharbanda) and Kiran (Raja) are orphans, too, who get married after a courtship of six months.
The day after their wedding, Kiran leaves for Bengaluru for a new job and Anuradha continues as manager of a bank. To her horror, she gets an MMS showing Kiran being beaten up by one Shahjahan Bismil (Murli Sharma), who calls her and asks for a ransom of Rs 2 crore.
Anuradha steals the money from her bank. Nookayya then steals the money from her to give to his girlfriend, who he later sees with his friend (played by Vennela Kishore). After Nookayya is jilted by his girlfriend, and comes to know why Anuradha needs the money, the kind-hearted Nookayya teams up with Anuradha, prevents her from committing suicide
The film meanders its way to the climax. The emphasis and concentration seemed to be on the action sequences; perhaps a similar attention to the storyline would have helped. The unnecessary graphics could also have been done away with.
Manoj Manchu tries his best to carry the film on his shoulders but can do so only up to a point. He proves his abilities in dancing (the Pista song) and action.
Raja is the surprise element in the film. Having come back after a gap, his acting skills take one aback. Kriti Kharbanda made a pretty picture. Sana Khan revved up the glam element of the film but had nothing else to do. Murli Sharma comes across as appropriately menacing and hateful as the villain. Kishore, Ahuti Prasad and others lived up to their roles.
Yuvan Shankar Raja's music is in sync with the film. Rajasekhar's camera captured the action sequences fairly well though there was a lot of slow motion. The editing could have been a bit tighter.
You won't miss much by giving Mr Nookayya a miss.
Rediff Rating: 
