Dhruva

Surender Reddy's 2016 Telugu film is a remake of the Tamil production Thani Oruvan. The police officer Dhruva sets out on a dangerous mission to destroy Siddharth Abhimanyu, whom he considers the most corrupt man in the country. What makes it notable is that the antagonist is not an ordinary gangster but a respected scientist running corruption in medicine and pharmaceuticals. Siddharth, played by Arvind Swamy, is a coldly intelligent villain of a kind unusual in Telugu cinema, and the contest with the hero is mental rather than physical. Ram Charan's performance supplies the pace the remake needs. Its weakness is staying too close to the original and letting the romance stretch the story unnecessarily. Who it's for: viewers who like Telugu action thrillers and crime films built on a battle of wits. Who it's not for: anyone who has seen Thani Oruvan and will compare, or bothered by song sequences lowering the tension.