Film: Race Gurram
Rating: 3.25/5
Banner: Lakshmi Narasimha Productions
Cast: Allu Arjun, Shruthi Haasan, Shyam, Ravi Kishan, Bramhanandham, MS Narayana, Kota, Tanikella Bharani, Prakash Raj and others
Music: Thaman
Story: Vakkantham Vamsi
Dialogues: Vema Reddy
Cinematographer: Manoj Paramahamsa
Editor: Gautham Raju
Screenplay, Direction: Surender Reddy
Producer: Nallamalapu Srinivas (Bujji), K Venkateswar Rao
Release Date: April 11th, 2014
Allu Arjun and director Surender Reddy have teamed up for the first time for Race Gurram. Surender Reddy is known for his stylish execution and Allu Arjun has got Stylish Star Tag. Were they able to come up with a stylish entertainer? Let us see.
Story:
Ram (Shyam) and Lakshman alias Lucky (Allu Arjun) are brothers played by Shyam and Bunny respectively. In quintessential Tom and Jerry style, they are constantly playing pranks and fighting with each other. While Ram is a police officer, Lucky is a happy-go-lucky guy upto no good. And in comes the villain into their little world in the form of Siva Reddy (Ravi Kishan) who plans to kill Ram who tries to stop his nefarious activities. Lucky gets to know about this and beats up Siva Reddy. The rest of the plot shows how Siva Reddy plots revenge and how Lucky along with his brother strikes back. All in all, it’s Bunny’s show all along.
Artistes’ Performance:
The role is a cakewalk for Allu Arjun and his total involvement is visible in every frame from beginning to end. His comic timing is perfect and he outdoes himself. One additional touch that is bound to stay with his fans for a long time is the way in which he says ‘Devuda’. Of course, it goes without saying that Allu Arjun rocks when it comes to song and dance. But be warned, his fans will miss out on some of his awesome moves in Race Gurram.
Coming to the leading lady Shruti Haasan, her character too provides enough comedy and she does manage her timing with Bunny.
The biggest drawback though is the villain Ravi Kishen. He fails to be cruel and you can make out that he did not put in his best.
On the other hand, Prakash Raj has an interesting character, but that goes missing some where along the film.
Brahmanandam as ‘Kill Bill Pandey’ puts in a performance that will be remembered for a long time. Shyam too gets to play a good role after Kick. As for the others, they put in okay performances.
Technical Expertise:
One of the essential ingredients of a hit film are hit songs. While Thaman’s audio has been a huge hit, the placement of the songs within the script is not appropriate. Similarly, the choreography is not up to the mark. However, the background score is good and Thaman gets full marks for it. Cinematography by Manoj Paramahamsa is rich and he captures each frame beautifully.
But all the films in recent times, the film suffers due to bad editing. For starters, the film need not be so long. Had the editor chopped off some scenes, it would have made the film more gripping.
The producers have spent lots of money and it is visible in the efforts of cinematographer and the director.
The dialogues of Bunny are crowd-pullers and keep you glued through out. So, Surender Reddy once again manages to come up with an action-packed entertainer. The story may be routine, but it does hold your attention.
Highlights:
- Allu Arjun
- Brahmanandam episode
- Devuda Dialogue
- Comedy
- Songs
Drawbacks:
- Length
- Villain's performance
Analysis:
If the review can be wrapped up in one line then it would be – It is Bunny’s film through and through. The film has its share of loopholes and there are places where it defies logic. But if you stop picking on the minuses and simply relax and enjoy the film, then the film is what one can call total paisa vasool. As Surender Reddy has promised, he delivers a film laced with oodles of entertainment, ample action and to top it all, Allu Arjun at his energetic best.
There is one dialogue where Posani Krishnamurali says, ‘Mari ala ela chestamayya logic lekunda’ when Bunny approaches him for help. Though the film’s plot and some scenes have no logic, the makers have made sure that the entertainment quotient more than makes up for it.
Since it is hard to come up with a commercial entertainer with logic, the director does not bother to make any efforts to retain logic. Instead, he goes overboard and makes an out and out entertainer with doses of family sentiment.
Surender Reddy has moulded Race Gurram on the lines of a Bollywood entertainer. But to cater to the Telugu audience, he tried to throw in a villain, a small love story and some family sentiments to complete the mix.
In the process, the film lacks pace at some places, but the pace picks up during the climax and Brahmanandam’s entry turns out to be a trump card for Race Gurram.
In all, for those looking out for a summer entertainer, Race Gurram is the perfect movie.
The fact that there are no other releases during this time will also be a huge plus for the film. The film is likely to gallop to the success mark.
Bottomline: Kill Bill Pandey
(Venkat can be reached at [email protected] or https://twitter.com/greatandhranews)
