Film: Yevadu
Rating: 3/5
Cast: Ram Charan, Sruti Hasan, Allu Arjun, Kajal, Jayasudha, Kota, Saikumar, Brahmanandam, Rahuldev, Subbaraju, Supreet, LB Sri Ram etc
Music: Devi Sri Prasad
Cinematogrpahy: Shyam K Naidu
Story: Vakkantam Vamsi
Produced By: Dil Raju
Directed By: Vamsi Paidipalli
Release On: 12th January 2014
Ram Charan, after his biggest flop 'Toofan' combined with Vamsi Paidipalli whose latest film was 'Brindavanam'. In the production of Dil Raju the film took quite a long time to reach the screens today. Let us see how it performed.
Story:
Satya (Allu Arjun) and Deepti (Kajal) were chased by goons and sets the bus they were travelling in to fire. Deepti gets killed but Satya survives with major part of his face burnt out of recognition.
Plastic Surgeon (Jayasudha) treats him and gives him a new face (Ram Charan). How Satya, with his new face, takes revenge on those who killed his lover Deepthi? That is quite predictable and occupies complete first half.
Then the twist comes with the appearance of Charan (Ram Charan) as a character. Why Satya gets Charan's face? Is that a serendipity? Or coincidence? Or something else? What happens further? That should be watched on screen.
Performances:
Ram Charan has little scope to show variations as entire story runs in serious tone. But he marveled in dances. He proved how he can grip the attention of audiences with right choreographers around.
Allu Arjun and Kajal, though played cameos, they could make their presence felt in big way.
Sruthi Hasan is ok but Amy Jackson is a big waste. She neither served the purpose of narration, nor worked for audience as recreation.
Jayasudha scored the best. Dialogues are written very well for her.
Sai Kumar did his best and this kind of character is a not a big deal for him. Kota sparked laughs here and there with his trade mark style. Vennela Kishore was wasted and Brahmi did just ok.
Technically there are no complaints and director's caliber in planting emotions is laudable.
Highlights:
- Screenplay
- Background score
- Songs
Drawbacks:
- No humor quotient
Analysis:
Vamsi Paidipalli cooked a dish comprising the best ingredients taken from previous super hit films of other directors. He took an element from 'Journey', a line from 'Vikramarkudu', an emotion from 'Chatrapathi' and an idea from Hollywood flick 'Face Off'. He should be appreciated for making the dish palatable at least for a set of audience. Yes, the film goes well with the masala fiction lovers.
Protagonist killing the antagonists one after the other putting a cross mark on the photographs was seen in countless number of films earlier. But still first half runs with enough pace and what is boring is Amy Jackson's part. Director used her just to fill the gap but that filling didn't help much to the film. The 10 minutes before interval sounds predictable but still the interest levels of the audience wouldn't leave the tenterhooks.
Second half appears to be slow as audience have watched such stuff in Vikramarkudu earlier. It can be understood that the director has taken the decision to make it slow in order to inject mood and build emotion. But still, it can be handled in better pace.
Songs sounded well as they have been lingering in the heads of people from many months. Choreography is very impressive and especially 'Freedom..' song deserves a mention. 'Ayyo Papa...' song rocks the masses while 'Nee Jatagaa..' song lures the melody lovers. Music and Background score are passed with first class marks. Cinematography gets the distinction.
All said and done, it should be underlined that there are no right elements to pull the attention of family audience. 95% of the talkie part in 2nd half runs in serious tone and the remaining carries some lighter moments through Kota.
The festival season should help the film but definitely it is not something on par with Ram Charan's last Sankranthi film 'Nayak'. But certainly far better than his latest dud 'Toofan'. And releasing after '1-Nenokkadine' is another advantage that it can lift.
Bottomline: Revenge Drama(s)
(Venkat can be reached at [email protected] or https://twitter.com/greatandhranews)
