Bangarraju Review: Nag’s one-man show

Akkineni Nagarjuna and Naga Chaitanya’s rural drama, Bangarraju is out for public viewing today. Let’s see how it is.

Story:

Bangarraju opens in heaven where the original Bangarraju (Nagarjuna) along with his wife(Ramya Krishna) leading a joyful life but after witnessing that their grandson Chinna Bangarraju in Sivapuram village (Naga Chaitanya) is having issues with the village Sarpanch(Krithi Shetty), the couple returns to the earth. As a sub-plot, a group of people eye at the local temple jewellery and plans to get Chinna Bangarraju out of the way as they feel with his presence in the village they cannot get the job done. How will the soul of Bangarraju enters into Chinna Bangarraju’s body and clears all the disturbances? Forms the main USB of the film.

On-screen performances:

Nagarjuna is at his best as Bangarraju. Compared to the five years back released Soggade Chinni Nayana, Nag is even more energetic and simply flashes full of energy to the proceedings. Nag’s charming screen presence and his own style of dialogue delivery add more authentic flavour to the film.

Coming to Naga Chaitanya, he did the role of Chinna Bangarraju with utmost dedication and impresses with Bangarraju’s mannerisms. But sadly, Chay has nothing new to do in his pre-occupied character by Nag’s Bangarraju.

Krithi Shetty shines as a village belle which is poorly designed. The romantic equation between Chay and Krithi Shetty is an added advantage for the film. While Ramya Krishna did a crucial role in Soggade Chinni Nayana, her role in Bangarraju is more like an extended cameo but the talented actress portrayed it quite convincingly.

Other actors such as Rao Ramesh, Sampath Raj, Vennela Kishore and Jhansi are okay in their regularly seen characters.

Off-screen talents:

Though music composed by Anup Rubens has a few catchy tunes, it is not that great compared to the first installment. His background score is apt for the proceedings.

Cinematography by Yuvaraj is one of the major points for the film as he presented the entire film with a colourful texture. The village atmosphere and all the properties in the set are captured nicely.

Editing by Vijay Vardhan K is not up to the mark. Production values for this village entertainer are apt for its genre.

Coming to the direction, director Kalyan Krishna’s writing is fine but his screenplay suffers from demerits such as routine template presentation and gripping scene order.

Positive Points:

• Nagarjuna’s swag
• Village ambience

Negative Points:

• Predictable narration
• Lacks emotional connectivity

Verdict:

In an overview, Bangarraju is a passable village drama that has Nag’s amazing screen presence and oozing energy throughout. But on the flip side, lack of emotional connectivity and racy proceedings stand tall as demerits. All we suggest is to keep a check on your expectations and Bangarraju will surely end up as a watchable flick during this festival weekend.

Telugubulletin.com Rating: 2.75/5