Rao Bahadur Review

The director, Venkatesh Maha, made his feature film debut with, C/o Kancharapalem, in 2018. With that film, he scored both critical acclaim and commercial success. After displaying tremendous potential with his first film, Uma Maheswara Ugra Roopasya (2020), a remake of the Malayalam film Maheshinte Prathikaaram, he made it his second film. He then took a break for a few years and announced, Rao Bahadur, Psychological Drama, as his third film. The very talented, Satya Dev, was roped in to play the lead role in the film. The expectations around the film increased when the production house of Mahesh Babu, GMB Entertainment, was onboarded to present it. After generating enough curiosity with interesting promotional content, the film was released in theatres today. Did Venkatesh Maha, come up with one more path-breaking film, after ‘C/o Kancharapalem’? Did Satya Dev, deliver a memorable performance in a very complex role? Did the film live up to the tag ‘Maha Chithram(Great Film), which the team repeatedly used during the promotions? Let’s figure it out with a detailed analysis.

What is it about?

Bhuvanam Ramappa Rao Bahadur(Satya Dev), who belongs to a royal family, suffers from liver cancer and he is also an alcoholic with an undiagnosed psychological disorder. The doctors say that his liver cancer cannot be cured and he may not be able to live for a long time. But, Ramappa’s desire to clear his doubt related to the birth of his(?) second son, defeats death & coma and pushes him to live longer and find the ‘truth’. Why exactly, Ramappa, have doubts about the birth of his second son? Is Ramappa, really the biological father of the kid? Why did Ramappa’s wife decide to restrict herself to a dark and closed room? Did Ramappa, finally succeed in finding the ‘truth’? What happens when, Ramappa, eventually finds the truth? Forms the rest of the story.

Performances:

Satyadev in the role of Bhuvanam Ramappa Rao Bahadur, delivered a once-in-a-lifetime performance. The efforts he put into getting the nuances right through his performance and the efforts he put into transforming his body to suit the different timelines, are to be seen throughout the film. The film may have issues but his performance in the film did not have a single wrong note. He is sure to get a lot of accolades for his excellent performance in Rao Bahadur. Don’t be surprised if he wins a few awards in the coming days for his performance in the films. Vikas Muppala in the role of Narayana Achari, a close friend of Ramappa, delivered a very good performance. He got a full-length role and he utilised it very well. He is sure to get quite a few character roles in the coming days.

Deepa Thomas in the role of Renuka, looked very confident and delivered a mature performance. Her ability to perform through her eyes, looked so good to see on screen. The director, Venkatesh Maha, appeared in a crucial cameo role and danced in a song as well. He delivered a decent performance. Bala Parasar in the role of Achchamma, was superb. Her dialogue delivery and subtle performance, generated good humour, in a few places. Senior actor, Anand Bharathi, performed well but his character entered very late into the film and appeared forced. Both the actors who played the roles of sons, delivered good performances.

Technicalities:

Smaran Sai came up with a soul-stirring background score. He was able to instil life into quite a few sequences through his very intriguing score. A bit more care should have been taken in composing the songs. A chartbuster song like, Asha Pasham(C/o Kancharapalem), would have done a world of good to the film. Kartik Parmar’s cinematography is first rate. His frames and visuals, gave the film a very classy and intriguing look. The cinematographer and the art department, deserve appreciation for giving a very rich look, although the film was made on a limited budget. The film was mainly shot at a single location and yet it did not look monotonous, due to the first-rate output by the cinematographer and the art department.

Apart from writing, directing and acting, Venkatesh Maha, also edited the film. Unfortunately, the decision not to hire an editor worked against the film. With better editing along with a bit of runtime trimming, the film would have been a bit better. Production values of the film were alright. Let’s discuss the writer and director, Venkatesh Maha, in detail in the analysis section.

Positives:

1.⁠ ⁠Satya Dev’s Performance
2.⁠ ⁠Superior Technical Output
3.⁠ ⁠Dialogue Writing
4.⁠ ⁠Fairly Surprising Twist(s)

Negatives:

1.⁠ ⁠Lack of Emotional Depth
2.⁠ ⁠Overtly Dragged Proceedings
3.⁠ ⁠Preachy Tone
4.⁠ ⁠Overreliance on The Twist(s)

Analysis:

C/o Kancharapalem, is one of the very few sensible movies that were made in the last decade in the Telugu film industry. The storytelling, the screenplay, relatable characters, emotional depth, the music, and everything else in that film were very organic. It is why the final twist in the film worked out so well. That film worked because of its unpretentious and honest storytelling but not just because of the twist during the climax. Unfortunately, it appeared that Venkatesh Maha, firmly believed that the final twist was the only reason for ‘C/o Kancharapalem’s’, success and seemed to have first developed a twist and then wrote the story and screenplay around that twist for, Rao Bahadur. The twist(s) indeed worked as expected but the storytelling oscillates between very good to good to annoying at times.. The lead actor, Satya Dev, delivered a performance of a lifetime and the music director, Smaran Sai, came up with a very good background score. Both of them gave their best and almost pulled off the film.

The film is made with a very high technical quality. The cinematography, the background score, the aesthetics and the artwork complemented each other to give a very pleasant and yet intriguing look to the film. The emotional depth in the proceedings was slightly better in the second half compared to the first half. The dark and subtle situation-driven humour worked out at quite a few places. Especially, the humour generated through the maid character was commendable. The last twenty to twenty-five minutes of the film have a few good moments along with a twist(a couple of twists) during the climax. But, both those twists looked forced and appeared to have blended into the proceedings only to surprise the audience. The dialogue writing deserves a special mention. Throughout the film, there were quite a few sensibly written and thought-provoking dialogues. However, the writing for the female lead character should have been much better. Throughout the first half, she was shown as an independent, strong and fierce woman and the same woman is shown as a submissive wife in an abusive marriage, in the second half, without any proper justification.

What happens when a director decides to make a ‘Great’ film intentionally? What happens when a director forcefully creates situations to make social satire? What happens when a director makes a two hour and fifty minutes film without proper emotional depth? What happens when a director is unable to find a balance between satire and preaching? You may have to watch, Rao Bahadur, to get to know the answers to all the above questions. It is appreciable when a film director displays social consciousness through his films. The director has every right to question the social norms through his films. But, the social message or satire, should be blended seamlessly with storytelling. It is where, Venkatesh Maha, lost track to an extent in, Rao Bahadur. After a point, it feels as if we are watching a never-ending social commentary on Mahabharatham, Mahatma Gandhi, religion, caste, creed, geopolitics, rich Vs poor, skin colour, etc. Through the character of an Alcoholic with an undiagnosed psychological disorder, the director of the film tried to preach to the audience about almost every social issue that is out there from Dwapara Yugam to Independent India, in a boring manner.

Overall, Rao Bahadur, boasts of a once-in-a-lifetime performance from Satya Dev, technical brilliance, thought provoking dialogues. But, Overreliance on the final twist and preachy tone made the film a decent watch. The intention to deliver a ‘Great Film’, is to be seen in almost every frame but conscious intention alone can not make a film great, it needs great storytelling as well. The core point ‘Anumanam Penu Bhootham(Doubt in the mind is a great demon), has the potential to become a great story,. But, what we got to see is a decent attempt that did not tap its full potential.

Bottomline – Great Acting & Weak Execution

Rating – 2.5/5