“The country needs me,” declares Agent Chaari, portrayed by the effortlessly hilarious Vennela Kishore, with a straight face that belies the impending comedy of the situation. The individuals present react with a mix of frustration and laughter. Prasad Rao, his superior at the secret agency Rudranetra and a former Army officer played by Murali Sharma, can hardly believe the audacity, whereas the moviegoers understand the joke—they are in on the fact that a comedian has been placed in a setting far removed from his usual antics. The direction by T G Keerthi Kumar attempts a bold move by casting a comedian in the throes of serious national threats as “Chaari 111” employs farce to tackle espionage.
Kumar’s Telugu creation pays homage to Chiranjeevi’s “Rudranetra” and takes inspiration from iconic international comedy action dramas like Johnny English and the Pink Panther series. With a backdrop of a dilapidated movie theater doubling as a rendezvous point, the film sets the stage for its blend of humor and action.
The narrative anchor is Rudranetra, an underground agency operating in Hyderabad. This covert entity has carte blanche when it comes to national security, eschewing regulations to challenge terrorist threats head-on. The storyline escalates when a bomb detonates, sending the agency into overdrive to find the perpetrators. With the chief minister’s (played by Rahul Ravindran in a substantive cameo) mandate, Prasad Rao is forced to delegate the mission to his available, albeit bumbling, agent—Chaari. Employing his trademark “confuse, distract and destruct” stratagem, Chaari is the man of the hour, despite being a constant thorn in Rao’s side.
The inclusion of Agent Esha, interpreted by Samyuktha Viswanathan, midway through, seems a timely addition. Esha represents the response to an audience’s query—where did this proficient agent come from? Mysteriously proficient and focused, Esha appears just in time to assist Chaari, much to the narrative’s convenience.
Regular scenarios are repeatedly leveraged throughout “Chaari 111” for comedic effect—a running joke on the concept of ‘leave’, for instance, delivers punchlines through misguided understanding. A triumvirate of absurdity is formed by Kishore along with Satya, Rudranetra’s tech wizard, and a surprisingly sober Thagubothu Ramesh, Kishore’s aide. Though all play their parts with a seriousness that elicits laughs, their limelight is sometimes stolen by the outdated and almost endearing technology of the agency, serving as fodder for more gags.
However, not every attempt at humor lands successfully. The film incorporates small-time gadgets for comic relief but also includes a monstrous gun—a trope overused by Indian cinema to the point of exhaustion, thus losing its intended awe effect.
The film’s attempt to create a formidable antagonist is marred by lackluster characterization. While the backstory is presented through effective animation, and references are made to a mythological villain, these aspects fail to deliver a memorably fierce foe. Despite this, a glimmer of surprise becomes apparent through another character’s involvement.
Striving to tread the line between humor and gravity, “Chaari 111” sidesteps making a farce of terrorism, thanks to the stern performance by Murali Sharma and the comic timing of Kishore, Satya, and Ramesh. Yet, it falls short as other characters like Samyuktha and Priya Malik fail to leave a mark.
Wrapping up, “Chaari 111” lands as a modestly budgeted film that capitalizes on light-hearted espionage. The background score provided by Simon K King injects energy into certain scenes, but a more cleverly penned script could have made the film’s sequel potential more exciting. It is in its commitment to levity that “Chaari 111” finds its stride, albeit intermittently, reminding us that perhaps in the world of cloak-and-dagger, a little laughter isn’t such a bad thing.
