Ramayya Vastavayya

I have been waiting to watch this movie ever since the promos released and the songs have been playing non-stop in my car. NTR's new look, Harish Shankar's imminent hat trick, Samantha's golden leg along with Thaman's music all added to the expectations. Did the movie hold up to the expectations? The review follows.


Film: Ramayya Vastavayya
Cast: NTR, Samantha, Shruti Haasan, Rao Ramesh, Rohini Hattangadi, Tanikella Bharani etc
Music: Thaman
Director: Harish Shankar
Producer: Dil Raju
Release Date: October 11th, 2013
My Rating: 3/5

What's It About: 
Nandu(NTR) is a happy go lucky guy who happens to come across Akarsha (Samantha) and it's love at first sight. He follows her around, teases her and even gets close to her grandmother Baby Shamili (Rohini Hattangadi) to woo her. He finally impresses her and attends her sister's wedding. Her father (Mukesh Rishi) is a powerful man who faces a death threat. He promises to save him. What happens next? Will he be successful? All these questions are answered in the second half.

Artist Performances: 
I must say that NTR has lost oodles of weight and he looks very fresh and fit in this movie. He has been renowned for heavy/hard hitting roles but he is surprisingly very good as a tapori youth. His scenes with Samantha and his dialogue delivery make the movie much more interesting. Samantha looks great but doesn't really have much scope to perform apart from the songs. Shruti Haasan's cameo is good. Saikumar's brother Ravi acted well as an antagonist. Rohini Hattangadi was hilarious and so was Vidyulekha. I have to mention that there are no comedians in this film. Harish Shankar had once said that he doesn't need character artists to bring humor in his movies and must say that he has been successful in that front.

This & That: 
The dialogues are punchy and the songs are catchy! My picks would be O Laila & Nenepudaina for both their music and picturization. My favorites scenes are the diary sequence, the interval bang and NTR's scenes with Shruti Haasan. NTR has some good dance moves in this movie. The film looks very promising all the way up to the interval bang. Infact, even after the interval, NTR's scenes with Rao Ramesh are also worth mentioning. However, the movie goes downhill from that point. The flashback episode and the climax are cliched and you have a deja-vu effect. Harish Shankar had so much potential and so many factors working from him but he could not ulitize them to a maximum potential. The climax was a routine fare. Production values by Dil Raju were good.

Did I Enjoy It?
Yes, I enjoyed the first half and the comedy/punch dialogues in the second half. I felt restless during the tail end of the movie.

The Final Word:
Ramayya comes with an average fare. The holiday season might work in it's favor. Go watch it once, time pass flick.

Gabbar Singh

Pavan Kalyan is teaming up with Harish Shankar (of Mirapakaya fame) and Shruti Hassan for Gabbar Singh. Pavan Kalyan needs a hit to wipe away his recent failures. Shruti need a success to break her iron leg image in the industry. Devi Sri Prasad's hit music has also raised the expectations for this one. I just watched the premiere show in Dallas, where they had 4 shows due to the heavy demand. All the shows are houseful. Does it live up to the expectations?

Film: Gabbar Singh
Cast: Pavan Kalyan, Shruti Hassan, Abhimanyu Singh, Kota Srinivas Rao, Bramhi, Ali, Nagineedu, Ajay, Suhasini, Tanikella Bharani etc.
Music: Devi Sri Prasad
Director: Harish Shankar
Producer: Bandla Ganesh
Release Date: 11th May, 2012
My Rating: 3.25/5

What's It About:

In Kondaveedu, a young Venkata Ratnam Naidu (Pavan Kalyan) and his step brother (Ajay) bunk school to watch Sholay. Venkat's fascination of Gabbar Singh  is shown . His step father (Nagineedu) favors his own son and pampers him. Venkat's mom (Suhasini) remarried after his dad's death. He doesn't approve of her decision and rebels, as a result he is put in a hostel further developing his dislike for the step-dad. To quote the movie,"aa pillavadu peddayaka Pavan Kalyan avutadu". He is now a cop who prefers to be called Gabbar Singh. "Vaadiki konchem tikka undi, kaani daaniko lekkundi". True to his nature he is egoist and brash. He falls in love with Bhagyalakshmi (Shruti Hassan) who declines his advances to take care of her alcoholic dad (Kota). As a result of his un-corruptness he soon locks horns with Siddhapa Naidu (Abhimanyu Singh), a local goon with political ambitions. How Gabbar Singh wins his love and wins over his enemy forms the rest of the story.

Artist Performances: 

Pavan Kalyan has certain mannerisms which have a huge following. He looks like he is having a ball, playing this character. His dialects in different scenes, his comedy timing have always been his plus points which have been highlighted in this film. Shruti Hassan is okay but the dubbing could have been better, it felt kind of jarring. Abhimanyu Singh is adequate as a villian. Ali, Bramhi, Gayatri Rao, Nagineedu, Kota, Ajay are good. A special mention here for all the negative characters in the movie, they were Hilarious! Suhasini's cameo is good.

This & That: 

As everyone knows, the movie is a remake of Dabbang, which was a massive hit. The director Harish needs to be commended for adding humor and tweaking the story a little to attract the native audience. The Kabbaddi Sequence in the first half and the Antakshari sequence in the second half are the biggest highlights of the movie. Pavan Kalyan must be appreciated for his sportiveness. Not many actors are comfortable with being imitated in a lighter vein right in front of them on the big screen. Background songs from Pavan Kalyan's and Chiranjeevi's movies are aptly used according to the situations. Songs by Devi are good. Akasam Ammayi and Pilla songs are my favorite for the way they were shot. Pavan Kalyan copied Salman's style of dancing in the movie. Trivikram Srinivas is mentioned in the opening credits and I saw a little bit of his touch in the punch dialogues by Harish. The climax felt rushed and it ended abruptly and could have been better.

Did I Enjoy It?

Yes. Go watch it for the comedy.

Last Word:
Gabbar Singh is Keka!