RRR - Movie Review

The movie everyone has been waiting for the last 2 years has finally arrived. A proper multi starrer under the magnificent director's vision in the backdrop of British India. The pressure is on Rajamouli to deliver a better and bigger movie than "Bahubali 2" to prove his authority on the Indian box office and to establish that Bahubali 2 is not a one time wonder. However, it's an uphill task to beat 1500 Crores. 

Story :- A tribal girl is taken away from her family by the British officer to their palace. A protector (NTR) of the tribe goes on the mission to Delhi to bring back the girl. A Indian police officer (Ram Charan) under British regime is on another mission to Delhi. Both these people meet in an accident and become good friends. How their paths cross, were they successful in their mission forms the story. 

Performances:- NTR and Ram Charan both have excelled in their respective roles. However, NTR's character has more scope for performance and we feel sympathized and elevated based on the character graph. Komaram Bheemudo song stands out for his performance. Ram Charan character requires calm and suttle performance which he delivers adequately, however one might feel his character graph is undermined till climax portion. NTR's introduction scene, interval flight entry scene, etc are well executed, has good background score, great elevations. Ram Charan introduction scene is not so great. He doesn't have much elevation scenes till climax. Though climax elevation of Charan is good the background score is poor. Except these 2 characters, all other roles are very small and are fine. 

Technicians :- Action sequences stand out in the movie and are well planned, executed and captured. Choreography on Natu Natu song is extraordinary. Costumes, art work are in line with the movie theme and time period. Cinematography is rich. Background score is not so great as compared to other Rajamouli-Keeravani movies. Montage songs are okay. Rajamouli's strength is emotional drama which you get connected and makes you cheer for the characters. Also, he's famous for the goosebumps elevation scenes. These 2 were comparatively less when compared to Rajamouli's previous movies. Part reason could be the poor screenplay, slow paced story and part due to major goosebumps scenes were revealed in the trailers already. Bheem's brutal power and Ram's goal oriented mindset were well carried throughout the movie.

Positives :-

Story

NTR & Ram Charan

Natu Natu Song

NTR entry in interval flight and Ram Charan entry in climax fight

Negatives :-

Slow paced narration and lagging screenplay

Lack of emotional connect

Below average background score

Less number of goosebumps scenes

Summary :- A must watch movie just to see 2 stars coming together for first time. Goosebumps elevation scenes, natu natu song, climax portion, conflict point between the 2 lead characters and the subsequent action episodes, all of these make it worth. Few scenes like Ramaraju get up, lion scene, etc were not revealed in the trailers, they would have created a huge impact when seen for 1st time in the movie. 

Rating :- 3.5/5 (Brace yourself but keep expectations in check). 

Definitely not on par with Bahubali series as far as emotions and elevation scenes are concerned.

Radhe Shyam - Movie Review

Rebel Star Prabhas is back on the silver screen after 3 years of Saaho. UV creations bankrolled the project under the direction of Radhakrishna, who debut movie "Jil" was an average flick. Pooja Hegde is the female lead. 

Story :- Vikramaditya is a world famous Palmist who believes there's no love line in his life and thus doesn't want to commit to any serious relationship. Prerana is a doctor who loves to enjoy every moment of life despite her problem. Destiny makes both of them meet and fall in love. Where does this love story end and what's their destiny forms the rest of the story. 

Performances :- Pooja Hegde as Prerana is a perfect fit. She played it with elan. Prabhas as the Palmist and lover did an okay job. But lookd of Prabhas is terrible to say the least. If he was really looking that bad or it was the graphics done to his face, his eyes popped out, nose was big and looked very pale and stoned. To cut down the cheeks, graphics was used to his face which made him look unnatural and weird. Never have I seen Prabhas look so bad in any movie before this. Sharad Kelkar is good as the uncle of Prerana. Bhagyalakshmi as Aditya mother is overboard and not required at all. Jayaram and Priyadarshi tried to bring some laughs, but didn't work out. Krishnam Raju was unable to utter dialogue or even walk, not sure why he had to be casted. Murli Sharma doesn't have a single dialogue throughout the movie. 

Technicians:- Songs are the soul for a love story and that's an utter failure in Radhe shyam. Except "Nee Rathale" no other song is good or catchy. Background score by Thaman is good. Costumes are done well, syncing with the location and time period chosen. Cinematography is okay. Graphics looked very cheap and bad. Too much graphics used for the outdoor locations, songs, climax ship portions, etc., Production costs are unnecessarily increased by choosing the foreign location, time period and unnecessary graphics just for grandeur. 

Positivies :-

Pooja Hegde

Costumes

Plot

Negatives :-

Prabhas looks

Graphics

Boring narrattlion

Lack of emotional connect

Summary :- A love story with conflict as such could have been made with a medium budget and locally. The premise, grandeur wouldn't make the narration interesting. There is nothing gripping in the story that makes audience connect to.

Jil was not an hit or a classic. Handing over a 200 Cr budget movie to the director is a blunder. Same is the case with Saaho. Sujeet made a terrific debut with Run Raja Run, but he couldn't handle the image of Prabhas in Saaho, that too after. With these kind of movies, Prabhas is going to loose the market share and good name he got in Pan India. He also has to take care of his looks and choice of movies. He is spoiling his career just like how Pawan did after Kushi with too much gap in between movies, not taking care of looks, choosing bad Stories and directors. Hope he gets back on track with Salaar (Prashant Neel of KGF) and Adipurush. 

Rating :- 2/5. Not interesting or engaging, worst than Saaho. Utterly disappointed with Prabhas screen presence.