Gopichand is back after the lukewarm response to his last outing Ontari. Ontari was a good movie, but did not have the success it deserved at the Box Office most probably because the heroine gets bumped off in the movie and the hero who is a schizophrenic believes she is alive did not gel too well with the Andhra moviegoers.
It is not surprising therefore that for Shouryam Gopichand has chosen the route of a usual masala movie with goons and limbs being hacked left, right, and center throughout the movie, but all in all a time pass flick that will keep Gopichand fans happy.
Coming to the story, Gopichand and Poonam Kaur are brother and sister who lose their parents as kids. Young Gopichand is not able to care for his sister and so gives her up to be adopted by Christian missionaries who provide and care for her. Poonam Kaur grows up hating her brother as she believes he deserted her during their childhood and is adopted by a childless couple and hence ends up getting separated from her brother. Gopichand too grows up and with the help of a police officer Sharath Babu becomes an Assistant Commissioner of Police. Manoj Jayan is the bad don who along with his son Ajay is terrorizing the citizens of Hyderabad. Sharath Babu gets killed by Manoj Jain since he issues shoot at sight orders for Manoj Jain to be killed. Now it’s Gopichand who takes on Manoj Jain, his son Ajay and the entire gang of goons, to take revenge and also to restore law and order in the city. The villains Manoj Jain and his son Ajay come to know of Gopichand’s sister Poonam Kaur and are out to kill her and how Gopichand protects and rescues his sister and how in the end both brother and sister are reunited forms the rest of the story.
Anushka Shetty plays the main female lead, but is there mainly for the mandatory songs and some comedy that is thrown in. Shouryam is otherwise an out and out Gopichand movie and is loaded with action, violence and thrills from beginning to the ending. Ali is there to provide some comic relief, but even in the comedy department it is Gopichand who really shines especially in the post-interval part of the movie where he leads the villain Manoj Jain on a merry-go-around as he goes about systematically destroying the villains. The rest of the cast Dharmavarapu, M. S. Narayana, Tanikella Bharani, Krishna Bhagvan, etc. perform adequately, but the comedy track involving Krishna Bhagvan as a doctor is pretty hilarious and will keep everyone in splits.
In terms of performance, this being an out and out Gopichand movie, he shines in the action sequences and in the comedy track too. Performance in the sentimental scenes with Poonam Kaur is fair, but Gopichand definitely needs to improve in the dancing department. Anushka as mentioned has a one track role, that of the mandatory song and dance heroine and there is not much scope for any performance from her. Poonam Kaur too has a limited role and limited scope for any performance and is limited to playing the suffering sister. Manoj Jain is a good addition to the list of Tollywood villains. Ajay has a limited role yet again and only serves the purpose of getting hacked by Gopichand. Music in the movie is nothing spectacular and most songs serve the purpose of providing a break in between. All in all Shouryam is worth a trip to the theater if you dig Gopichand and/or are in the mood for some limb chop suey and violent big screen action.
