Movies: Bangaru Kodi Petta
Rating: 2.25/5
Banner: Guru Films
Cast: Navdeep, Swathi, Ram-Laxman, Santosh, Harsha Vardhan and Others
Dialogues: Prasad Varma
Cinematographer: Sahir Raja
Music: Mahesh Sankar
Producer: Sunitha Thati
Story, Screen Play and Direction: Raj Pippala
Release Date: March 7th, 2014
The trailer of this Swati-Navadeep starrer looked promising and one felt that director Raj Pippalla will manage to a hit with Bangaru Kodi Petta. Let’s check out if this Boni director managed to hit the bull’s eye…
Story:
Swati plays Bhanumati, a sales girl in an energy drinks company who loses her job suddenly. So she comes up with a plan to steal the gold that her company has set aside for a lucky draw. She gets her co-worker Vamsi to help her out. The director weaves in two other sub-plots into the main plot. Bangaru Kodi Petta is all about how these plots get connected and where it takes the protagonists.
Artistes’ Performance:
While there is no doubt regarding Navadeep’s talent, the film once again fails him in showcasing his talent. But he puts in all his energy and wins over the audience.
Swati on the other hand gets to do a composed and calm character unlike her usual chirpy roles.
Coming to the supporting cast, Santosh is not convincing as the pizza boy. Since the character is pivotal for the story, the director should have casted a better actor. There is nothing much to write about Ram Lakshman. Both of them look alike and flash a similar expression.
But Harshvardhan takes the cake. He manages to evoke laughs with his timing and expressions during the climax.
Technical Team:
Songs by Mahesh Shankar are just about ok.
Background music is average.
Dialogues are alright.
Editing is weak. In fact, the film has many unnecessary scenes that should have been chopped in the editing room. Also, length of some scenes is way too long.
Cinematography scores among the technical team, though it is nothing outstanding.
The film is definitely better than Raj Pippalla’s debut film Boni. Yet, it suffers due to his inherent shortcomings. While he picked up an interesting plot and screenplay format, he has failed to make a gripping film. Had he managed to keep up the sharpness of the opening scenes through out the film, it would have surely been a success.
Highlights:
- Cliamax
- Navadeep’s Performance
Drawback:
- Direction
- Weak First Half
Analysis:
For starters, the story is nothing new. Lead characters trying to rob something and ending up facing hurdles before they succeed – is a plot that has been touched upon several times before. Where the film differs is the format in which Raj Pippalla has tried to present the story.
He runs three plots parallel to each other and then merges them at one common point. Pippalla tries to show how they connect, how they realize and how they eventually settle. Though it’s relatively new format for Tollywood, it has been touched upon by international films such as Amores Perros and Crash. A similar format was followed by Mani Ratnam in Yuva. So while we can appreciate the director’s attempt, his approach and the way he carries forward the plot is utterly disappointing.
Usually, a racy screenplay and high doses of entertainment keep such films going. We could take the example of Swamy Ra Ra here, which released last year. However, the technical brilliance, entertainment quotient and racy screenplay that Swamy Ra Ra had are missing in Bangaru Kodi Petta. The sub-plots involving pizza delivery boy and Ram Lakshman fail to interest you. In fact, they bore you to the end. Of course, the fight sequence involving the pizza delivery boy is a highlight during the climax.
Though the hero-heroine’s track is sketched out well, it becomes enticing only towards the end of second half. Instead of wasting his time on trivial details, had the director reduced the running time and turned the film into a racy thriller by throwing in lots of entertainment, it would have worked wonderfully. What could have been a good crime comedy ends up being a DVD watch.
Bottomline: All Hype And No Show
(Venkat can be reached at [email protected] or https://twitter.com/greatandhranews)
