Ragada Movie Review

Film: Ragada Cast: Nagarjuna, Anushka, Priyamani, Brahmanandam, Pradeep Rawat, Kota Srinivas Rao and others Music: Taman Cinematography: Sarvesh Murari Editing: Marthand K Venkatesh Action: Vijay Art: A S Prakash Produced by: D Shiva Prasad Reddy Story, screenplay and directed by: Veeru Potla Release date: December 24, 2010 CBFC Rating: A What’s it about! Satya (Nagarjuna) comes to Hyderabad from Cuddapah, and joins in a rowdy gang. There he meets a lady rowdy (Anushka).  Few months later, Astalakshmi (Priyamani) comes into his life. He provides shelter and protection to Astalakshmi and her family and romances with the two beauties. Then he declares a war on the city’s don Peddanna. What prompts him to indulge in direct fight with the ‘don’ is narrated in a flash back episode. A doctor (Venniradai Nirmala) runs a hospital in Cuddapah and wins the hearts of local people there. She also adopts an orphan boy who turns out to be Satya. One day, she is killed. So, Satya comes to Hyderabad to take revenge on her killers. Analysis Of late, Nagarjuna has more interested in signing ‘mass’ entertainers. Ever since, his Mass became a huge grocer, he has been moving into that genre frequently. After the disastrous result of Kedi , he attempts at this genre again with Ragada. Writer turned director Veeru Potla who made debut with Bindaas as director has also tried to rehash the old mass action entertainers. But he has inserted several twists in the screenplay at regular interval to keep the audiences glued to this movie that has no proper script. The director has succeeded only in creating twists but rest of the movie runs on predictable manner. Plenty of action scenes are also thrown in – some of the fights defy the logic too. To elevate the heroism, the action director has designed fights in a high-voltage manner –for every punch of the hero, the villains jump into air. Nagarjuna looking handsomely, the rich production values, and the plenty of glamour show by the heroines are plus side of the movie. Performances Seeing Nagarjuna in the movie, you don’t believe that he has crossed 50 years. He looks so dashing in the movie. In the role of a rowdy, he cakewalks through the character. He has used Rayalaseema diction in the movie. Anushka is gorgeous and her chemistry with Nagarjuna is hot. Priyamani is okay. Charmee also provides glamour quotient in a song. Brahmanandam provides some laughs in the beginning of the movie but the movie lacks comedy on the whole. Pradeep Rawat does justice to his role. Venniradai Nirmala, Kota, Supreet, Tanikella, and master Bharat have not much role but they have done their job well. Taman’s songs are not that foot-tapping  but they are shot beautifully and richly. Sets are fantastic in the songs. Cinematography by Sarvesh Murari is eye-catching. Director Veeu Potla takes credit to story, screenplay and direction but he has not shown sparkle any of his departments. His dialogues are pretty ordinary. There is hardly any story as it is amalgam of several past masala movies. As director too he doesn’t succeed much as narration lacks consistency. Producer D Shiva Prasad Reddy has put in lot of money to give the movie a rich look. Probably the movie is highest budgeted flick in Nagarjuna’s career. Performances: Nagarjuna looked handsome and younger than his previous flick. His style and charisma are an added bonus to this film. Nag tried for Rayalaseema accent which didn’t have any impact. Anushka is gorgeous. She has outdone the rest with her unmatchable screen presence. Priyamani exposed her body more than Anushka to make her presence felt. On performance side, she had the upper hand. Charmi sizzled in a song. Pradeep Rawat doesn’t have anything to do except howling and yelling all the time. Dev Gill who excelled in Magadheera is given a spineless character in this film. Kota Srinivasa Rao is standard. Brahmanandam played a lengthy role and helped the proceedings. In fact Brahmanandam is the only relief in this over dose action masala. Master Bharat is fine. There is nothing to mention about rest of the star cast. Technicalities: Veeru Potla’s funny one-liners worked in few scenes. On a whole he does an average job as dialogue writer. Thaman’s songs are in sync with the mood of the film. But nothing stays on your mind or haunts you. Background score is good though. Sarvesh Murari did a fantastic job behind the camera. His cinematography is the biggest plus for this stylishly shot film. Marthand K. Venkatesh editing is slick but there are few jumps here and there. Production values are good. Veeru Potla yet again wrote a story which is a rehash of many hit films. He simply followed the commercial path to bag a hit. He has the potential but is deliberately restricting himself to be branded as a ‘safe’ director. On commercial front, he is an average director and still has to do lot of work to be considered on par with Rajamouli or VV Vinayak. Plus Points: - Entertainment - Nagarjuna’s style - Anushka’s glamour - Commercial elements Minus points: - Age old story based on revenge formula - Second half drags - Ordinary climax Final Word: The release time would be the biggest plus for Ragada. Holiday season and no big releases at least for next two weeks should help the film to get into a safe zone. It should work commercially but content wise Ragada is just ordinary. Don’t expect too much from this film. Bottom-line On the whole, Ragada is predictable entertainer that follows the age old formula, which might appeal to viewers who finds comfort in mass masala movies that hinge completely on star power and glamour than the content. Watch it only for some action episodes, Nagarjuna and Anushka’s sexposing.  Vebtoday Rating : 3.25/5

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