Rangabali Movie Review

Naga Shaurya’s previous films have turned out to be big disappointments. The talented actor this time returns with a commercial potboiler Rangabali directed by debutante Pawan Basametti. Before its release, the film has been making good noise. Sathya’s media interviews spoof put the film on spotlight. Do all these hungama works? Will Shaurya make a solid comeback with Rangabali? Let’s find out.

Plot

Set in Rajavaram, Shaurya aka Show is a bindass guy with devil-may-care attitude. His father Viswam (Goparaju Ramana) runs a medical shop. Show is sent to Vizag medical college where he meets Sahaja (Yukti) and falls for her. She too reciprocates. How is this love story connected to Rangabali centre in Show’s town Rajavaram? Who is Ranga Reddy and how was he killed? What is Show’s connection to him and Rangabali? After knowing all these answers, how Show deals with all the happenings form the crux of the story.

Performances

Naga Shaurya is totally in his element. He is over-the-top in the film, but this is as per the character trait of ‘Show’. He pulls off well in the initial comedy scenes. Sathya aka Agadham is the highlight of Rangabali. He stole the show with his antics and mannerisms. Sathay’s character reminds us of the villain (SJ Suryah) in Spider, albeit dealt here in a hilarious way. The Shaurya-Sathya duo provides good laughs in the first half. Heroine Yukti Thareja is easy on the eyes. She delivers what is expected of. She goes missing in the second-half. Goparaju Ramana has some emotional moments and he yet again proved he is game for father roles. Murali Sharma is alright. He has nothing much to do in the film which is dominated by the hero. All the main characters get sideliend in the second-half. Sarathkumar’s role which is supposed to leave a great impact fails to do so. What good Sarathkumar did as Ranga Reddy isn’t shown appropriately due to time constraint. Sarathkumar gets wasted. Dasara fame villain Tom Chacko is apt for the role, but he is under-utilised. Noel track in the college (Senior Vs Junior) is just a filler and it is just passable. Hero’s other friend Rajkumar is okay. There are several characters in the film who come and go.

Technicalities

Based on a thin line, the story of Rangabali is woven. The writing is pretty dated and bad, full of liberties. Direction leaves no impact. Clearly, writing and direction are major shortcomings for this film. Pawan CH’s songs fail to engage. The item song in the second-half is unwanted. Cinematography & Editing are fine. Technically, Rangabali has nothing much to talk about.

Highlights

Sathya’s Comedy
College Scenes

Drawbacks

Story & Direction
Flashback Episode
Songs & Fights
Weak Climax

Analysis

Right from the word go, Ranagabli prepares audiences for a very dated set-up which is full of cinematic liberties and forced hero elevations. Hero’s introduction as a kid to grown up guy, his white-shirt story, artificial build-up and fight over lord Ganesha statue, hero flexing his muscles and beating hundreds of people all alone and intentional show of body by removing shirt, pulling of huge Ganesha chariot single-handedly, and father-son tiffs, Rangabali has everything that we have seen in old films earlier. If these are not enough, director Pawan Basamsetti has many such old-fashioned ideas for hero-elevation in the latter half of the story. The very manner in which audiences are driven into the story is artificial.

The story shifts to Visakhapatnam, where audiences get some relief. Sathya’s humour rescues the first-half. Shaurya-Sathya together tickles the funnybones of audiences. ‘Atul’ comedy may work well with youths. And there is a scene of Sathya checking his weight and suddenly his weight gets increased when a girl passes by. There are some adult jokes like these. There is traditional alcohol comedy too. These are just passable which are neither boring nor entertaining.

The love-track of hero-heroine is just adequate. It is still unconvincing how the heroine, a well-read doctor, fell for a loser like Show. It is cinematic liberty again. However, Shaurya and Yukti make a good pair and their chemistry on screen works occasionally. There are references of Pawan Kalyan’s Kushi, picture Mahesh Babu in the backdrop only to cheer their fans. Even this is a dated idea. Clearly, Ranagbali sticks to commercial format sidelining the logics and reasoning. The interval point is pretty normal too. The conflict of the film is weak which revolves around Rangabali centre. The real-test for the film is its second-half.

As the story unfolds, the film gets boring. The old-styled narration makes the film very predictable and tests the patience. The latter half of the film totally plummets leaving audiences in despair. The first half runs entirely on entertainment quotient, whereas the second-half is dealt with more serious drama. It looks like both are two different worlds owing to different treatments. The flashback episode involving Sarathkumar is ineffective. The forced fight scene, the unwanted and unappealing item song make the proceedings worse. And the protagonist’s speech outside the court which should work like fireworks failed miserably. Climax wipes out all the hopes. There is a message in the film ‘leave the bad and focus on good’. It is as dated as the script of Rangabali. The final twist on changing the name of Rangabali centre is even disappointing. The film didn’t end on a satisfying note at least. It leaves viewers with mixed and incomplete feelings. On the whole, Rangabali has nothing much to offer, it is just old-wine in an old-bottle with some laughs in the first half, but goes haywire in the second-half.

Bottom-line: First half ‘Bhale’ – Second half ‘Bali’

Rating: 2.25/5

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