Guntur Kaaram Review: A Tired Rehash Of ‘Attarintiki Daredi’ And ‘Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo’

Watch it Mahesh Babu!

Guntur Kaaram (Telugu)

  • Cast: Mahesh Babu, Sreeleela, Jagapathi Babu, Meenakshi Chaudhary, Ramya Krishnan, Jayaram, and Prakash Raj
  • Director: Trivikram Srinivas
  • Producer: S Radha Krishna
  • Music: Thaman S
  • Runtime: 2 hours 39 minutes
  • Rating: 2

There is a profound line in Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo (2020) where Jayaram’s character talks about how the greatest battles are fought with people closest to you.

As a filmmaker, Trivikram Srinivas seems fascinated with this concept and has constantly churned out movies along these lines — Attarantiki Daredi (2013), Agnayaathavaasi (2018) or his last blockbuster Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo.

His latest outing Guntur Kaaram, too, has a similar theme and gives a déjà vu due to the presence of Jayaram.

The storyline of Guntur Kaaram has good scope for a festive family drama while also being a star vehicle. But here, Trivikram Srinivas falters in balancing the two aspects.

Mahesh Babu, as Ramana, is refreshing to watch.

Further, the film brings back the memories of his comic timing in Pokiri (2006) and Khaleja (2010).

Synopsis

Guntur Kaaram begins on an eventful night that ends with a murder. Jayarama’s royal Satyam is sent to prison. Vasundhara (Ramya Krishnan) disowns her husband (Jayaram) and son.

She gets remarried under the advice of her father Venkataswamy (Prakash Raj). Rahul Ravindran plays the hugely embarrassing role of Vasundhara’s second son, who is about to enter politics.

Vasundhara grows into an influential politician. Ramana becomes rowdy.

Venkataswamy feels “Rowdy” Ramana might become an obstacle and wants him to sign a document which would permanently erase him from her life.

However, Ramana refuses to sign the document despite never getting his mother’s love and care in his growing years.

As the story progresses, more layers reveal why Vasundhara has kept a distance from her husband and son.

Guntur Kaaram has a good beginning where the conflict is established without wasting time.

As viewers, you want to know the reasons behind her indifference. But the film soon stagnates as multiple characters are introduced whose relevance to the plot is better left unsaid.

Performances

Mahesh Babu in a still from Guntur Kaaram
Mahesh Babu in a still from ‘Guntur Kaaram’. (X)

There are a slew of actors who have been terribly wasted. Among them, the prominent ones are Jagapathi Babu, Rahul Ravindran, Rao Ramesh and Jayaram.

The comic punches definitely raise some chuckles.

Mahesh Babu’s comedic exchanges with Vennela Kishore are fun to watch. Their chemistry is reminiscent of Sarkaru Vaari Paata (2022).

Mahesh Babu also gets dialect well, and there is a certain carefree nature, which is refreshing to watch after his Bharat Ane Nenu (2018) and Maharshi (2019).

Prakash Raj makes the biggest impact in the supporting cast. His confrontation scenes with Mahesh Babu are good to watch.

Ramya Krishnan also delivers a commendable performance as Vasundhara but the film needed more scenes between her and Mahesh Babu.

Apart from the multiple characters, another big issue with Guntur Kaaram is the insipid love story between Ramana and Sreeleela’s Ammu.

Sreeleela entertains with her dance moves. Apart from that, there is nothing much for the actor to do. This is sad because Sreeleela showed good potential in Bhagavanth Kesari (2023).

There is also Meenakshi Chowdhary of Hit 2 (2022) fame. She is supposed to be the second female lead, but her only job is to offer Mahesh Babu a plate of omelette or a bottle of soda when he consumes alcohol.

The action sequences are formulaic in nature, with the standard hero elevations that get tiring after a point. These action sequences have some trademark Trivikram Srinivas humour. But these are not enough to salvage the slow narration.

Thaman’s music is suitably massy, but most songs come across as speed bumps in an already tired narrative.

Final take

Guntur Kaaram is a massive downfall for a man who delivered commercial films that can be watched on repeat mode!

Bheemla Nayak: A Boisterous Second Half And Rana Saves The Day

Saagar K Chandra’s Bheemla Nayak tries to be a mix of retaining the spirit of the original Ayyappanum Koshiyum, but at the same time there is lot of fan appeasement particularly in the second half. The director has taken the Adivasi background with Pawan Kalyan’s character being a demi god for the locals. However, the Adivasi background doesn’t really add much value to the story except for the climax. The Adivasi characters are purely there to worship Bheemla and to sing praises of him.

For most part of the first half Pawan Kalyan is subdued. Rana Daggubati’s Daniel Shekhar provokes him multiple times but Bheemla doesn’t give in. Honestly nothing much happens in the first half, it is more like a filler for what is to follow in the second one. But it isn’t a complete bore either thanks to Nithya Menon’s Sugana. It is fun to watch her in her firebrand character. The second half is definitely much better but more on that once we are done discussing the story.

This Ayyappanum Koshiyum remake is set in the forest region connecting Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. In the opening minute we see Bheemla Nayak paying his obeisance to the forest, the next shot is Rana Daggubati’s introduction. We see him resting in a car; he tells his driver that the tiger is resting after a few drinks. A folk number by S Thaman leads the audiences through the terrain. Daniel Shekhar does not think it is a crime to have a stash of alcohol when his car is going through the forest zone. Expectedly a clash happens between Daniel and the cops, this leads to something bigger. There is also a back-story to Bheemla which all the villagers know but they won’t discuss it. It is considered a ‘sacred’ oath. Murali Sharma plays Kodandram. He desperately tries to bring some peace. While Ayyapum Koshiyam tackled class divisions among other aspects here those are downplayed significantly. Also while there is a certain restrained approach in the first half still there is no getting away from the hero elevation. The best example of that is the title song where you have ample slow mo shots and hundreds of junior artists.

Rana Daggubati promises epic clash with Pawan Kalyan's Bheemla Nayak in new  teaser | Entertainment News,The Indian Express
Rana Daggubati : Ample scope to showcase his towering personality

The movie gets more into the zone after Bheemla is stripped of his official duties. The scenes between Pawan and Rana are more powerful in the second half. It is fun to watch the actors taking on each other. One of the good things here is that Rana isn’t reduced to a junior artist; he gets ample scope to showcase his towering personality. He perfectly carries the attitude of the character from scene 1, his scenes with Samyukhta who plays the wife is quite good to watch. In these scenes we see a softer side to him. Also there is certain decency to his role; this comes through when Rao Ramesh’s character suggests Daniel to use Bheemla’s wife Sugana as a bait in his battle with Bheemla. Daniel scolds him saying that don’t you have shame in suggesting a thing like this.

Bheemla Nayak Movie News: Samyuktha Menon confirms she will be part of 'Bheemla  Nayak'
Samyukta Menon, debut in Telugu films

The romance between Pawan Kalyan and Nitya Menon is also interesting because Nitya Menon’s character is no push over. She is appropriately spunky.

The climax fight is too elongated but it still makes an impact. The emotional touch at the end of the fight is quite good.

Pawan Kalyan as Bheemla is suitably restrained and also explosive when required. But his performance comes across as indifferent. The energy levels that you associate with the actor are missing for the most part.

The supporting cast hasn’t got much to do. They are mostly there to watch the show from the sidelines.

The first half as I said is quite a bore. One major reason for that is the mishmash of sensibilities and not knowing what approach to take. Also the music is one big letdown. There is an attempt to give it an earthy touch but it comes across as more artificial. This can be particularly seen in the title song.

Watch Bheemla Nayak for the confrontation scenes between Pawan Kalyan and Rana Daggubati