Movie : Rajanna
Rating: 3.5/5
Cast : Nagarjuna, Sneha, Annie, Shweta Menon, Nasser, Mukesh Rishi, Sourabh Dubey, Ravi Kale, Vijaykumar, Sravan, Ajay, Supreeth, Pradeep Rawat and others
Directed by : Vijayendra Prasad
Produced by : Nagarjuna Akkineni
Banner : Annapurna Studios
Music : M M Keeravani
Release Date : 2011-12-22
Romantic star Nagarjuna has been shifting genres and testing new waters ever since his kid Chaitanya turned hero. After Kedi and Gaganam, Nagarjuna has come up with periodic drama Rajanna, in which he is not seen on screen until one hour into the film. This is the biggest experiment a star hero can make, hugest risk a big star can take! Mind you, he is the producer of this film too. Did Nagarjuna's risk pay off? Did star writer Vijayendra Prasad prove to be a good director? Let's uncover the details...
Story:
The story is set in 1948, in Nelakondapalli village (Adilabad district). People of this village are suppressed by Dorasani (Swetha Menon). There lives a little girl Mallamma (Annie), who is the daughter of Rajanna (Nagarjuna). Rajanna is a brave fighter who fought against the British and also led Telangana people against the Nizam rule. Despite Rajanna's brave fight and death, Nelakondapalli is still in the evil clutches of Dorasani. Now Mallamma goes on a journey to meet the then Prime Minister Nehru to save her village from Dorasani's evil rule.
Performances:
Nagarjuna is decent as Rajanna. He did ham a bit here and there but has to be lauded for his guts to do such a movie and character. His star value plays a vital role in making this movie reach wider audience.
Child artiste Annie is terrific. What an actress she is. There isn't a single faltered expression. She should win National award for her performance. Sneha is alright in her brief yet noticeable role. Swetha Menon is the weak link in the movie. She failed to give the right expressions in each and every scene. Rest of the actors are aptly cast.
Technicalities:
Rajamouli canned a song-fight scene apart from giving his inputs to the action part. 'Vey Vey' song supervised by Rajamouli is the best part of the film. The emotions in the film reach peaks in this song. We feel like getting up and clap for this song. Great work from the master of emotions!
Keeravani has done one of his best works in this film. If not for him, Rajanna would have been ended up as a dud. Such is his contribution to it. Cinematography is neat. Editing is sharp. Production values are pretty good.
Vijayendra Prasad's direction is flawless except for the portions in the last half hour. He excelled as the writer though.
Analysis:
First things first, Rajanna is not a regular commercial cinema. It is pure art of cinema, which gives story the front seat against all the cliched formulas. If you are craving for masala and routine mass-commercial-silly-mindless-comedies, please stay out of watching it. This is not for people who go to movie to laugh off their two hours of time, munching popcorn and gulping cola.
Rajanna is for people who look for real cinematic experience. When the protagonist enters after one hour in to the movie, you are definitely not going to see usual cinema, isn't it? Director Vijayendra Prasad has done a very good job in building the drama and setting the conflict right. First hour of the film is filled with arresting drama and heart touching scenes on the kid. Right buildup is given for the entry of Rajanna. But have to admit that the introduction scene of Rajanna is dealt in a poor fashion.
Second hour of the film starts on a bright note. Rajanna's way of awakening villagers is the heart of the story. The movie goes on at a breath taking pace at this point. About thirty minutes of the film will be at peaks. Later the graph slides down and the climax scenes doesn't live up to the post interval scenes. If right care has been taken about the last fifteen minutes, Rajanna would have been a classic. Saying so, Rajanna is still a good film, which isn't to be missed by the audience who look for meaningful movies.
Keeravani is the hero of this film. Director Vijayendra Prasad banked on Keeravani and gave him complete freedom that the film is filled with numerous songs, lullabies and folk bits. Keeravani has done a fabulous job that we don't recognize there is no comedy in the film. We don't even feel the void that there is no 'hero' in the film for almost an hour, all because of Keeravani Sir!
Don't miss Rajanna if you are craving for a true Telugu film with lot of heart and soul. For once let us not think about the commercial outcome of the film and whistle out our hearts for true art of cinema. Hail Rajanna team!
In one word: Rajanna is 'Majestic'!
