Srimathi Daily Serial – E199 – 30th Jan

Dashing director Puri Jagannadh has a huge fanbase. Despite the lack of success in the past few years, people still wait for his films in the hope of a strong comeback. But the director has been out of form for the past 8-9 years and ‘Ismart Shankar’ was the only hit he got. Whilst the songs and Ram’s energy worked out wonderfully, people had a lot of complaints on that film too.

After the disastrous result of ‘Liger’, people expected Puri to change his regular style which is getting monotonous. When ‘Double Ismart’ was announced, there were mixed reactions but people still hoped for Puri’s comeback. But the teaser of the film came out on Ram’s birthday and most of the public got disappointed by it. They claim that Puri followed the same template of ‘Ismart Shankar’ and just included Sanjay Dutt in it.

We can see the whacky Ram, cuss words, glamorous girls, teasing scenes, loud music and even the Shiva statue was intact in the teaser. The most common mafia backdrop present in every Puri movie along with an Ali comedy track was also present. The movie showed nothing new and there is a section that says that ‘Tillu Square’ was the same which became a blockbuster but the ‘Ismart’ hero template of Puri is something he has been using from the early 2000s. What was once a signature of Puri has now turned into routine and monotonous.

The general audience are saying that the senior director is stuck with the same formula and is unable to come out of it. This negative buzz will seriously affect the film. Pre-release buzz is very important these days. ‘Ismart Shankar’ was such a big hit because of the songs which became chartbusters before the release. What happens if it’s not the case this time? The content should be strong enough to impress the audience. It is high time, Puri looks into these reactions from the public and act accordingly instead of living in his own bubble.