Story
Rama Krishna (Srikanth), Ravi (Rahul Vijay) and Kumari (Shivani Rajashekar) work in Kotabommali police station. By-elections are happening in Kotabommali and this election is supposed to be a precursor to decide who will win the main elections. Entire political establishment is stationed in this place. At this juncture, this trio gets involved in a crime that they didn’t commit. The police and political establishment want to arrest them and put them behind bars because it serves a political purpose. Rest of the story is all about how they escape from it and prove their innocence.

Artists Performance
This movie belongs to Srikanth. His characterisation and emotional depth is very impressive. Srikanth does it with a great conviction and we feel for the character after the end of the movie. This is definitely one of the best roles he has portrayed in his career. Rahul Vijay is competent as an honest police officer. Shivani Rajashekar is natural in a cop role. Murali Sharma is very good as a politician and adds a bit of humor to lighten things. Varalaxmi Sarathkumar gets a meaty role and she does extremely well as a dynamic cop who is on prowl to nab the cops on the run. Most of the actors tried the Srikakulam dialect. The best one among the actors in using this dialect is Kishore Kumar Polimera (℅ Kancharapalem). He is impressive. Pavan Tej Konidela is good as a baddie.

Story - screenplay - direction: This film is an official remake of Malayalam film Nayattu (Hunt). They have retained the original screenplay and story 80% and did some crucial changes during pre-interval and in the climax. The changes made worked well for the Telugu version without disturbing the soul of the original. The takeoff of the film is a little slow. And it gets interesting after 30 minutes. Director Teja Marni who did not impress with his debut film Arjuna Phalguna has done a decent job at directing this realistic remake. He has succeeded in getting emotions right. Creating a heroic elevation to Ramakrishna character in the interval episode is good. However, the mindgame is not followed up effectively in the 2nd half as Ramakrishna's character is mentally disturbed and drinking due to his daughter's issues. The climax in the original was a cliffhanger where two characters were seen traveling in a prisoner van. The climax in the Telugu version is more palatable as certain changes were made to make the ending more emotional and more popular. The message about how the system is bound to the constitution and how the police system becomes toothless when politicians call the shots is shown properly towards the end.

Other departments: Background music scored by Ranjin Raj, Midhun Mukundan is a definite plus. Lingi Lingi Lingidi based on Srikakulam folk song is already a rage before the release of the film. This song is shot well. Cinematography by Jagadeesh Cheekati is skillful. Dialogues written by Nagendra Kasi are very good. There are a couple of thought provoking dialogues about politics. Editing by Karthika Srinivas R is fine. Art direction by Gandhi Nadikudikar is apt. Production values by the GA2 banner are decent.

Analysis: Kotabommali PS is a decent remake of Malayalam film Nayattu with 20% modifications which were rightly done. Among the performances Srikanth, Murali Sharma and Varalaxmi SarathKumar excel in that order. This is a film that adds some commercial angle and heroic elevation to the remake without impacting the soul/sanctity of the original. On the whole, Kota Bommali PS is worth a watch if you like watching realistic thrillers.