'Guntur Kaaram', produced by Haarika & Hassine Creations, hit the cinemas today (January 12). In this section, we are going to review the latest box-office release.
Plot:
Vyra Vasundhara (Ramya Krishna) abandons her son Ramana (Mahesh Babu) after a conspiracy hatched by their relatives. Many years later, she is a political heavyweight backed by her vile father, Venkata Swamy (Prakash Raj). The father-daughter duo wants Ramana to sign certain documents declaring that he has nothing to do with his mother. This is not to the liking of Ramana, who carries the baggage of growing up as a motherless son.
What is the motive behind Venkata Swamy's and Vasundhara's attempts to sever ties with Ramana once and for all? Why did Vasundhara get separated from her husband Royal Sathyam (Jayaram)? Is there an unknown gambit at work?
Performances:
Mahesh Babu's performance in the film under review continues his unbreakable connection with the audience. He solidifies his status as a charming cinema hero known for Trivikram-powered ease. He dances not just pretty well but like a true-blue Telugu hero. This is leagues ahead of his over-hyped 'Sarkaru Vaari Paata' act.
Ramya Krishna excels in a role that has to understand the triumphs and tribulations of the male protagonist. Sree Leela hits it out of the park in 'Kurchi Madathapetti'. The rest of the cast doesn't go for the whole hog. Prakash Raj is semi-good. Jagapathi Babu is not bad. Vennela Kishore's repartees don't work. Murali Sharma, Easwari Rao, Rao Ramesh, Brahmaji, Sunil (in a cameo), and Ajay Ghosh don't make any impact.
Technical aspects:
Manoj Paramahamsa and PS Vinod share the credits for cinematography. The frames come with no charisma. Thaman's songs are above average, with only 'Oh My Baby' being underwhelming. The background music is uneven. In some scenes, the influence of Anirudh Ravichander is noticeably high.
The production design could have been way better. Somehow, the studio feel lingers over whole episodes.
Post-Mortem:
The film is about a mother abandoning her son and the son reuniting with his estranged mother. This takes a good 15 years maybe. Do you know what happens during those 15 years? Talking talking talking. The conversations are never-ending, with a couple of episodes feeling like gags.
Endless convos and dense monologues are no substitutes for storytelling. And gags are no substitute for filmmaking. The characters played by Ajay Ghosh and Ajay are there just as fillers. They make the antagonist look like a paper tiger.
The dynamics within the family come off as suddenly resolved in the climax. The inter-generational friction is not portrayed believably. We never understand why Royal Sathyam takes forever to tell something existentially significant to his son, who has been suffering from trauma.
The partial blindness that Mahesh Babu's character suffers from proves to be nothing of consequence. The action scenes have no stakes. Everything boils down to Mahesh's superstardom-endowed talent. He looks like a dream. He is the only one saving the film from becoming another 'Agnyathavaasi'. Had he dully portrayed Ramana, the film would have been irredeemable. Even so, his scenes with Sree Leela mostly bore the audience. The climax, again, works only because of his acting.
Trivikram's dialogues are better than what we have heard in 'BRO'. Again, in two ways, 'Guntur Kaaram' is better than two of Pawan Kalyan's collaborations with Guruji. One hopes that's not a controversial opinion.
Closing Remarks:
'Guntur Kaaram' is a missed opportunity. It feels dense and nothing much transpires except in the final 30 minutes. Gags and pointless ideas abound.
