Nandamuri Balakrishna – Rigobertha Reviews

April 11, 2025April 16, 2025

Jatt: A Sunny Deol mass extravagance

Jatt written and directed by Gopichand Malineni is the perfect example of Bollywood’s growing obsession with fusion cinema the garnishing of South Indian tadka in a north body. For fans of Sunny Deol particularly the single screen ones the movie will be an absolute delight. At the age of 67 Sunny Deol still packs a punch with his dhai Kilo Ka Haath. The group of villains led by Randeep Hooda are formidable too

Starcast: Sunny Deol, Randeep Hooda, Regina Cassendra, Vineet Kumar Singh, Saiyami Kher, Jagapathi Babu and others

Genre: Action drama

Story, direction and screenplay: Gopichand Malineni

Dialogues: Sai Madhav Burra and Saurabh Gupta

Producers: Naveen Yereneni, T.G Vishwa Prasad and others

Production Companies: Mythri Movie Makers, Zee Studios and People Media Factory

Music: Thaman S

Running time: 2 hours and 38 minutes

The mega success of the films Pushpa 1 &2, RRR, KGF 1&2 and Kalki 2898 AD has created an identity crisis for Bollywood’s commercial cinema. A certain desperation has come in wanting to have the south Indian Masala in a North Soul. A very good example of this is last year’s Baby John directed by Atlee’s assistant Kalees. On numerous occasions Varun Dhawan was trying to ape the charismatic Vijay Thalapathy forgetting his own strengths. Not surprisingly the movie ended up as a box office turkey. Just a few weeks back there was AR Murugadoss Sikander with Salman Khan. Instead of being an Eid treat it ended up as a massive disappointment even for hardcore Salman fans. Jatt directed by Gopichand Malineni doesn’t match up to Atlee’s Jawan which had a good fusion of South Melodrama combined with the Starpower of Shah Rukh Khan. However, Jatt is a competent cocktail of action and melodrama powered by Sunny Deol’s larger than life persona.

The storyline of Jatt kicks off in the year 2009 in the jungles of Sri Lanka. Randeep Hooda’s Ranatunga is a former LTTE fighter. He along with his brother Somulu (an entertaining Vineet Kumar Singh) and a few more stumble upon a buried treasure amidst the ruins of a civil war. This revelation of a buried treasure pushes Ranatunga and co into the depth of greed. Soon Ranatunga establishes a vast criminal Network with the help of acquired gold. A major strength of Ranatunga apart from his brother Somulu is the wife played by an excellent Reginna Cassandra. At this point you have the entry of a mysterious stranger played by Sunny Deol. True to the title Sunny Deol plays a powerful Jatt with no fear and truly a bulldozer capable of demolishing any number of men. His arrival in the town causes a big mayhem starting off from a scene in a roadside shack which is a perfect mixture of comedy and action.

It goes without saying that Sunny Deol is the lifeline of Jatt. The actor makes even the outlandish of situations work with his powerful presence. He delivers the punchlines with the required intensity and also shines in the melodramatic portions. Jatt is an absolute goldmine for Sunny Deol hardcore fans. The actor also raises chuckles with his understated comic timing. The best example of this is the scene involving a simple apology request over a dropped idli. A lot of the first half has this as a recurring point raising many chuckles. Of course, in the action scenes he pummels the bad guys in Nandamuri Balakrishna style but because of the conviction the suspension of belief becomes easier. Talking about the punchlines a special mention must be made of the scene where he says “Yeh Dhai kilo ke hath ki taakath north dekh chuka hai, ab south dekhage (North has already seen the power of this 2.5 kilo arms, it’s South turn now).

Jatt also benefits from the strong batch of villains. Randeep Hooda does a very fine job in conveying Ranatunga’s greed for power and money. The way he hacks people with a cold and calculated demeanor makes him for a perfect despicable opponent. Vineet Kumar Singh as Somulu too has a lot of fun as a deranged younger brother. After Chhavva and Superboys of Malegaon Vineet showcases a different facet of him. Regina Cassandra too springs a pleasant surprise as Ranatunga’s spouse and partner in crime. She perfectly conveys the ruthlessness and ambitious nature while being elegantly dressed.

*Reginna Cassandra also springs a pleasant surprise*

Saiyami Kher and the fellow women officers offer an interesting counterpoint to their male ones. They are miles ahead in terms of both bravery and honesty. Saiyami Kher brings in an emotional depth as a determined police officer with strong mental strength. Talking about the other actors Jagapathi Babu as CBI officer Sathyamurthy has a strong presence but the veteran is mostly seen travelling first in a private plane and then in a car heading towards to the village where Ranatunga is causing carnage. His only job is to applaud the strength of Sunny Deol’s character.

A major problem with Jatt is too much of gruesome violence even for the standards of mainstream commercial cinema. The violence is often graphic making it a difficult watch particularly for the ladies and family audiences. The women characters often become the punching bag for the gruesome acts of violence. The movie features numerous shots of them being assaulted and in some cases helpless too.

The inherent South melodrama makes Jatt a tough watch too specifically for those who don’t have much exposure to South commercial cinema. A perfect example of this is the character played by a highly melodramatic Zarina Wahab. Thaman’s songs don’t add much to the plot. A special song by Urvasi Rautela in particular leaves a bitter after taste with its tacky choreography. The background score is very loud and jarring in nature however in some portions it does make an impact like the fight scenes featuring Sunny Deol and his entry.

Final word: This Sunny Deol mass extravagance is a treat for those like the fusion of south larger than life with north tadka. For the rest though its avoidable.

February 16, 2025February 17, 2025

A look at blockbuster director Anil Ravipudi’s filmography

An overview into what makes Anil Ravipudi a very successful commercial filmmaker with both his positives and negatives

Anil Ravipudi entered the Telugu film industry as a screenplay and dialogue writer starting from the year 2009.

He co-wrote the scripts of the Dookudu sequel Aagadu (2014) and also the Bol Bachchan Bol remake Masala (2013).

Anil Ravipudi saw success as a screenplay writer with the 2011 Kandireega, directed by Santhosh Srinivas. The entertaining screenplay particularly the characterization of Sonu Sood, a typical villainous role with the comic undertones left the viewers in splits.

In fact, a major strength of Anil Ravipudi has always been his whacky storytelling. The scenarios are often outlandish, but there is a conviction that he brings to the table.

Director Anil Ravipudi

Anil Ravipudi’s debuted as a director with Patas (2015). Concept-wise the movie has similarities to Junior NTR’s Temper (2015), however, Patas is very much its own beast.

It featured Kalyan Ram as a police officer but not the usual grim cop. There is an easygoing nature to the character particularly in the first half. The viewers get to see an energetic side of Kalyan Ram.

Patas also benefited immensely from comedian Srinivasa Reddy playing Kalyan Ram’s sidekick. The scenes featuring the two were a major highlight of the movie. It went on to become a huge hit and since then there has been no looking back for Anil Ravipudi.

Raja The Great features Ravi Teja as a visually impaired man, but his character doesn’t seek sympathy. Trained by his mother, played by veteran actress Radhika, he leads a self-sufficient life and turns his disability into an advantage.

Though Raja The Great is a typical commercial entertainer with little focus on logic, it ended Ravi Teja’s flop streak in 2017. Anil Ravipudi brought back Ravi Teja’s energetic persona, which his fans had missed for a while.

He has gone on to deliver hit after hit with the likes of Sai Dharam Tej, Nandamuri Balakrishna and of course, Victory Venkatesh with whom he has done three movies including the latest Sankranthiki Vasthunnam.

Flaws in Anil’s filmmaking

Before going into some of Anil Ravipudi’s movies explaining his success it’s also necessary to look into some of the drawbacks in Anil Ravipudi’s stories. It’s a well-known fact that Anil Ravipudi’s storytelling is mostly outlandish with characters behaving in a farcical manner.

While the director’s conviction in dealing with outlandish scenarios is a plus, at the same time his brand of humour and lack of certain political correctness also becomes a major hurdle. For example, in Sarileru Neekevvaru (2020) there is a scene where Rashmika’s Sankruti accuses of Mahesh Babu raping her.

This is used as comic fodder leaving a very bitter taste. The entire portions on the train don’t give much entertainment for the viewers, even the climax portion where the antagonist joins the army just because of one fiery speech, borders on extreme ridiculousness.

Similarly in F3 (2023), most of the principal characters, both male and female, including an honest police officer, are driven by greed for money.

This makes them do questionable things. When it comes to the actions of both Venkatesh and Varun Tej there is no judgmental tone, but when it comes to the characterizations of Tamannaah and co they are unnecessarily vilanised.

There is also a very unnecessary track of Sonal Chauhan thinking that Tamannaah is a man.

While F3 is largely entertaining and also features an important message about what greed for money can make people do and how it should be respected in the right way, at the same time these aspects could have been taken care of by Anil Ravipudi.

Now let’s get into some of Anil Ravipudi’s most successful movies explaining his commercial success.

Sankranthiki Vasthunnam

Anil Ravipudi’s Sankranthiki Vasthunnam was an entertaining story of an ex-encounter specialist stuck between his wife and also an ex-girlfriend cum cop while handling an important mission of bringing back a reputed businessman. A strong aspect of Sankranthiki Vasthunnam was undoubtedly the characterization of Venkatesh’s YD Raju coupled with the actor’s brilliant comic timing.

Senior actor Venkatesh isn’t new to the genre of comedy; he has brought the house down on multiple occasions with his fantastic sense of humour most notably in Malliswari (2004) and Nuvvu Naaku Nachav (2001), still Anil Ravipudi brought out a different side to his comedy.

Venkatesh portrayed the multiple shades of YD Raju in a brilliant manner, aided by the hilarious writing.

Women characters

Anil Ravipudi crafted two strong women characters, Aishwarya Rajesh and Meenakshi Chaudhary. Aishwarya’s portrayal of Bhagyalakshmi, a supportive yet jealous wife afraid of her husband reconnecting with his old love, added an interesting layer to the mission. She aced the role perfectly.

Meenakshi Chaudhary, known for her traditional housewife roles in Lucky Baskhar (2024) and Matka (2024), was showcased differently in Sankranthiki Vasthunnam. She played an ex-cop still in love with YD Raju. Meenakshi stood her ground against both Venkatesh and Aishwarya, proving to be a great foil.

Apart from the leads, Bheemla Revanth Pavan, as YD Raju’s son, brought a lot of humour. His OTT-inspired curses had the audience laughing on multiple occasions.

However, a weak subplot about respecting teachers stuck out like a sore thumb. Anil Ravipudi often adds small messages to his films, like in F3, where the theme of greed worked well. But in Sankranthiki Vasthunnam, the teacher-respect theme felt forced and disconnected, more like an afterthought than an integrated part of the story.

Bhagavanth Kesari

Apart from his usual commercial movies, Bhagavanth Kesari starring Nandamuri Balakrishna was a pleasant surprise as Anil blended Balakrishna’s stardom with an important story of a young girl rising above a certain psychological trauma.

In a way, it was Dangal on steroids. Thankfully the troupes of the army aren’t used here for evoking patriotic feelings. It is more about Sreeleela’s Vijji overcoming her anxiety attacks and in the process becoming a resilient young woman.

In this film, general Anil Ravipudi’s comic troupes are kept to a bare minimum. The film also has powerful dialogues on good touch and bad touch delivered by the terrific Balakrishna.

The track of Kajal Aggarwal playing a supposed psychiatrist is the only occasion where we see trademark Anil Ravipudi touches.

Sreeleela as Vijji

A big strength of the movie was the powerful emotional bond between Balakrishna and Sreeleela’s Vijji. Balakrishna’s character is a foster father to Vijji.

To help Vijji become more resilient, he pushes her to join the army, something which Vijji hates. The portion of Bhagavanth pushing Vijji resulting in her hating him has a distinct hangover of Aamir Khan’s Mahavir Phogat in Dangal.

The movie’s underlying message emphasizes raising girls to be strong, like lions, and this theme comes across powerfully. A notable moment occurs in the pre-climax when, at a critical point, Anil Ravipudi shows Sreeleela fighting the baddies while Balakrishna pretends to be incapable.

There’s a clear reason for this. Both Anil Ravipudi and Balakrishna deserve credit for allowing Sreeleela to take centre stage. Her scenes, where she fights the baddies overcoming her anxiety, form the heart of Bhagavanth Kesari.

F2

F2 directed by Anil Ravipudi deals with familiar themes of frustrated men, in this case, it is Venkatesh’s Venky and Varun Tej’s Varun.

A poster of the film F2 — A poster of the film ‘F2’. (X)

Venky is a frustrated husband unable to cope with the system of marriage and the expectations which come with it. Varun on the other hand is a happy go lucky youngster who falls in love with Venky’s sister-in-law. Varun also ends up being frustrated unable to bear the eccentricities of his girlfriend.

The best part of F2 was the entertainment quotient specifically in the first half. Venkatesh played the “subjugated” husband to perfection raising many chuckles with his just his expressions and dialogue delivery.

A particular scene which needs to be mentioned here is when Venkay pours out his emotions about his marriage woes to a patient male dog.

This portion ends up with tears in the dog’s eye making Priyardarshi comment that you not only make families emotional but also dogs. The “juggalbandi” between Venkatesh and Varun Tej was a big plus for the movie enhanced by Anil Ravipudi’s writing.

Varun Tej with his rustic Telangana accent also got a good character and he did a fine job providing able support to Venkatesh.

The second half though went for a toss with some unnecessary characters and a climax which was both convulsed and chaotic; still, the movie was a good entertainer.

F3

F3, the sequel to F2 except for Venkatesh, Varun Tej and some other characters has no connection to F2.

The storyline here is completely different as it focuses on a bunch of men and women driven by greed. A strong aspect of F3 is its entertainment quotient even though it isn’t always politically correct.

Venkatesh and Varun Tej in F3 — Venkatesh and Varun Tej in ‘F3’. (X)

Venkatesh’s character suffers from night blindness; Varun Tej on the other has a specific mannerism to cover his stuttering. A lot of the humour is generated from this.

Much like F2 the “juggalbandi” between Venkatesh and Varun Tej was a major highlight. Talking about the humorous scenes, similar to the first part, there is a portion where Venkatesh talks about his problems to a raging bull, the bull subsequently has tears.

The way it is written by Anil Ravipudi coupled with Venkatesh’s acting makes it very entertaining to watch. Towards the end, there is an important moral lesson that Anil Ravipudi smartly integrates.

This is all about Anil Ravipudi’s strengths and weaknesses as a filmmaker along with what makes him a blockbuster director, here’s hoping that Anil Ravipudi grows from strength to strength and also explores new genres.

(Edited by Sumavarsha)

https://thesouthfirst.com/entertainment/telugu/a-look-at-blockbuster-director-anil-ravipudis-filmography/

January 19, 2025April 16, 2025

Daaku Maharaaj : A mass feast for Balakrishna’s die hard fans

Bobby Kolli’s ‘Daaku Maharaaj’ doesn’t break any grounds in terms of the story. It is a tried and tested good versus evil saga somewhat elevated by Balakrishna’s star power.

Daaku Maharaaj (Telugu), 12-01-2025, Action, Drama, 2 hours 30 minutes, U/A, Theatre

Main Cast: Nandamuri Balakrishna, Bobby Deol, Shraddha Srinath, Pragya Jaiswal, and Chandini Chowdary
Director: Bobby Kolli
Producer: Suryadevara Naga Vamsi
Music Director: S Thaman
Cinematography: Vijay Kartik Kannan
Rating: 2.5/5

Bobby Kolli’s Daaku Maharaaj plays out like an unabashed love letter to the crazy fan following of Nandamuri Balakrishna.

Balakrishna’s connection with the masses is undeniable, regardless of whether you like the actor or not.

Bobby Kolli uses the connection to the hilt to keep the viewers invested.

Synopsis

In simple terms, the story of Daaku Maharaaj focuses on a civil engineer turned vigilante. The movie initially presents Balakrishna as Nanaji, a driver. However, Nanaji’s real intentions are different.

His true mission is to protect the granddaughter of the tea estate. The family is under threat from MLA Trimurthulu Naidu (Ravi Kishan).

Nanaji quietly eliminates the gangs related to Trimurthulu Naidu. Things take a dramatic turn when Nanaji’s real identity comes out.

Balwant Singh Thakur (Bobby Deol) is informed of Daaku Maharaaj’s reappearance—the second half shifts to an origin story.

Before becoming a vigilante Balakrishna’s Sitharam was an upright civil engineer. Sitharam’s aim was to bring water to the withered area of Sonapur in Madhya Pradesh. This area is ruled by the demonic family of Thakurs.

Bobby Deol’s Balwant Singh Thakur is the youngest among the brothers. The rest of the story focuses on the transformation of Sitharam and his connection with the granddaughter of the tea estate.

A showreel for Balakrishna

Daaku Maharaaj is an action thriller — ‘Daaku Maharaaj’ is an action erntertainer. (X)

It goes without saying that Daaku Maharaaj is mostly a showreel for Nandamuri Balakrishna. The actor’s screen presence coupled with his histrionics is what makes the movie watchable even when the plot enters into an utterly mundane zone.

The actor’s delivery of punch lines is definitely something that hardcore fans will enjoy. He does a very good job of portraying Sitharam’s transition from an honest civil servant wanting to solve the problems of Sonapur through government methods into a vigilante.

A scene which deserves a particular mention is a breakdown portion in the flashback involving the death of a girl. The quire in the voice coupled with the tremble as he talks about the horrific death brings out the actor in Balakrishna.

Both Shraddha Srinath and Pragya Jaiswal make their entry in the second half as the spouses of Bobby Deol and Balakrishna respectively.

Both of them make their presence amply felt particularly Shraddha Srinath as the honest collector who goes against her husband. An emotional sequence between Shraddha and Balakrishna before the death of her character is hugely poignant.

Bobby Deol as the thoroughly aristocratic Thakur with zero emotions makes for a suitably cruel villain. He gets the patriarchal nature of an upper caste bigot to perfection, his confrontation scenes with Balakrishna like the pre-climax sequence are deadly.

Flaws

A major problem with Daaku Maharaaj is its tried and tested formula of good versus evil. The movie comes with zero surprises for those who have grown up on commercial Telugu cinema. The beats of the story become very predictable.

The movie also suffers on account of too much fan worship. The fan service gets nauseating after a point giving little enjoyment for the neutral audiences.

Daaku Maharaaj also suffers from the mostly flat characterizations of the supporting cast. Able comic actors like Satya and VTV Ganesh are given very little to play with. The likes of Shine Tom Chacko as a wacky cop on the hunt of the Daaku start off promisingly but end up being majorly sidelined as the movie becomes a celebration of Balakrishna’s aura.

Technical aspects

Apart from Balakrishna’s performance, Vijay Kartik’s cinematography is also of a good standard, the Chambal portions of the second half showcase his prowess as a cinematographer.

Thaman S’s songs don’t help the movie much but his background score is pulsating, it perfectly complements the cinematography of Vijay Kartik in the Chambal portions.

Final take

To sum it up Daaku Maharaaj is strictly for the hard-core Balakrishna admirers, the ones who worship the actor and watch movies only for him.

(Views expressed here are personal, edited by Sumavarsha Kandula)

https://thesouthfirst.com/entertainment/telugu/daaku-maharaaj-movie-review/

October 20, 2023December 1, 2023

Bhagavanth Kesari: A Fan Pleasing Entertainer With A Strong Dose Of Feminism

Anil Ravipudi moves away from his regular style of filmmaking and delivers a moving emotional drama. At certain points the film reminds you of Dangal.

Bhagavanth Kesari (Telugu)

Starcast: Nandamuri Balakrishna, Sreeleela, Arjun Rampal, Kajal Aggarwal and others

Director and writer: Anil Ravipudi

Producers: Sahu Garapati and Harish Peddi

Production Company: Shine Screens

Music: Thaman S

Running time: 2 hours and 37 minutes

Genre: Action drama

Anil Ravipudi is a director who has been successful in making commercial potboilers that are high on entertainment. The director is known for creating characters that come with specific mannerisms resulting in slapstick humour.

However in Bhagavanth Kesari the director opts for a different route. Anil Ravipudi’s brand of humour is absent for most part except for a few scenes involving Kajal Aggarwal. Here he has written and directed a story that has elements which will both satisfy Balakrishna fans and also give a social message through the character of Sreeleela.

Bhagavanth Kesari (Nandamuri Balakrishna) an ex police officer is the foster father of Vijji (Sreeleela). After her biological father C I Srikanth (R. Sarathkumar) dies in an accident he takes on her responsibilities. As a young child Vijji meets Bhagavanth when he was a prisoner in a jail where her father worked. Bhagavanth feels an emotional connection with her right from the beginning.

Vijji’s mother wanted to join the army but she had sacrificed her dreams. Srikanth feels guilty about coming in the way of his wife’s dreams. His biggest wish was to see Vijji joining the army. Here Anil Ravipudi doesn’t use the army angle to evoke patriotic feelings: it is more for Vijji to overcome her anxiety attacks and become a resilient young woman.

Rahul Sanghvi (a Dashing Arjun Rampal) is a power hungry tycoon who firmly goes by the philosophy of Charles Darwin’s survival of the fittest. Rahul and Bhagavanth have a bitter past that resurfaces – the usual template between a hero and villain. In a nutshell the story is about how Vijji emerges as a strong woman both physically and mentally and how Bhagavanth helps her to achieve it.

The biggest USP of Bhagavanth Kesari is easily the emotional drama between Bhagavanth and Vijji. Bhagavanth is someone who firmly believes that girls need to be raised like lions and this clearly shows in how he pushes her to do certain things. Vijji’s interests lie more in marrying the love of her life. In these portions Bhagavanth’s attitude reminds the viewers of Aamir Khan’s Mahavir Singh Phogat.

There is a scene where VIjji’s boyfriend comes with his father for the marriage proposal. The prospective father-in-law has a very dismissive attitude of Bhagavanth’s aspirations regarding Vijji. He says that it’s enough that Vijji becomes a good housewife and mother. Bhagavanth gets angry and kicks him, a typical Balakrishna gesture. Naturally Vijji gets annoyed and starts treating Bhagavanth as a stranger. As viewers we empathize with both these characters.

Anil Ravipudi also makes some important points about good touch and bad touch through a rousing monologue by Balakrishna. Here again the emphasis is on how girls should be raised courageous like lions.

Arjun Rampal exudes the right amount of swag and ruthlessness

Bhagavanth Kesari benefits immensely from the performances of Balakrishna and Sreeleela. Balakrishna delivers a mature performance without going overboard in the emotional scenes. The actor’s Telangana diction is also commendable. Of course he satisfies his fans in the flashback portions where he plays to the gallery. There is an important passage in the film’s pre climax when Bhagavanth lets Vijji do all the fighting for a particular reason. Both Anil Ravipudi and Balakrishna need to be given credit for how they let Sreeleela take the center stage.

Known for her glamour roles Sreeleela springs a very pleasant surprise with her performance. The actress does a wonderful job in showcasing the transition of Vijji. She also proves to be a good action heroine convincingly taking on the baddies. Arjun Rampal as the antagonist exudes the right amount of swag and ruthlessness. It is a not a very innovative character but Arjun makes it work.

Anil Ravipudi, the director known for creating characters that come with specific mannerisms resulting in slapstick humour

One of the threads that don’t quite work is the one featuring Kajal, his love interest. She plays a supposed psychiatrist. Her track doesn’t quite jell with the narrative. Another mild issue with the film is the flashback of Bhagavanth Kesari that glorifies his brutal methods.

Bhagavanth Kesari is a welcome break from Balakrishna’s hyper masculine Akhanda and Veera Simha Reddy; A welcome sign of his transition from macho hero to father hero.