Leader

Finally, I watched Leader. Before I talk more about the movie, Let me just get this out of my system. I have been wanting to watch this movie from a looooong time as I think RaNa is Hawt! Jokes apart, I love the music of Leader and I have always enjoyed Shekhar Kammula's movies as they are very classy. It was a long wait as the movie was frequently postponed. Was it worth the wait? Let's see.

Film: Leader

Cast: RaNa Daggubati, Richa Gangopadhyay, Priya Anand, Suhasini, Subba Raju, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Rao Ramesh & Others.

Music: Mickey J Meyer
Producer: AVM Productions
Director: Shekhar Kammula
Release Date:  February 19th, 2010
My Rating:  3.75/5


What's It About:

Sanjeevayya(Suman) is A.P.'s CM. His convoy is bombed and he is in a critical condition. His brother Peddayya(Kota) is a caste fanatic who wants only people from his kin to rule the state. Dhanunjaya(Subba Raju) is Sanjeevayya's brother's son who has ambitions to become a CM. Raji(Suhasini) is CM's wife who wants her US educated son Arjun(RaNa) to become the CM after Sanjeevayya's death as she believes he can change the system of corrupt MLA's. After reading his father's principles and helplessness due to corruption from his diary, Arjun sets out to become the CM. How he manipulates the politicians and dodges his greedy family forms the rest of the story. How he maintains his position forms the climax.

Artist Performance:

This is RaNa's debut and he has to be appreciated for attempting to start his career in a purely performance driven, no frills attached character. There are no elaborate fights, mass dialogues, flashy costumes that a star son's debut has and he shines in a demure role. He is a delight to watch on screen in an authoritative charector and has good diction. I am not sure why Priya Anand is in the movie? She does not have anything important to do and her role could might as well be chopped. Richa is ok and she does not have a lot of screen presence. Harshavardhan is good as an accomplice to RaNa. Subba Raju who plays a villain's sidekick got his first full fledged villain's role and he is brilliant. Kota, Rao Ramesh, Ahuti Prasad are nice. Gollapudi Maruti Rao's 5 minute sequence and dialogues are amazing. 

This & That:

The story starts off with a bang and the tempo is consistent throughout the movie. Priya Anand's thread has no logic and conclusion and it should have been deleted. There is no comedy in the movie but you don't miss or yearn for it and Kammula must be appreciated for it. There are no boring segments and for a non-commercial movie, that is a plus. Music by Mickey J Meyer is very good. My favorites from the album are Maa Telugu Talliki, Vande Mataram & Avunana Kadana. Dialogues by Kammula are crisp and fresh especially in the assembly scenes.I liked the way the hero wins over the corrupt ministers  and the methods he employs. I am not sure why the hero has to play a love game with the heroine when he could have resigned in the first place and contested for the elections. The movie would have been even better if not as good without the heroines but I think that was an attempt to commercialize the movie. The climax is sudden and could have been better with more justification to all the charecters. Nevertheless, a very good movie from Kammula

Did I Enjoy It?

Yes. It is a classy movie which provokes you. Go watch it, am sure you will love it!