Balu Gani Talkies is the latest Aha original that has Shiva Ramachandravarapu and Raghu Kunche in key roles. The film is about a young man who runs a theater and get trapped in a murder case. The film is now streaming on Aha and let’s review it here.
Story: Balu(Shiva Ramachandravarapu) owns Balu Talkies in a small village. He airs porn films to keep the audience engaged in his theater. As he is insulted everywhere, Balu decided to clean his image and run one big Balakrishna film. He borrows ten lakhs and preps to air Simha in his theater. But ahead of the film’s release, a old man dies in his theater and Balu gets framed in the case. Who killed the old man and how Balu escapes the case is the story.
Performances: Shiva Ramachandravarapu is known to us for playing small time negative roles in his film. He has turned hero with Balu Gani Talkies and does a decent job in the film. His rustic look and brash avatar suits the story perfectly. He has a lot of scope to improve but is okay in the film. Saranya Sharma plays the female lead and she looks elgant as the village belle. Raghu Kunche plays the main villain and he was okay. The rest of the supporitng cast were new and did not do much.
Technical Aspects: The dubbing of the film is very bad and does not make sense. The lip sync is not in place and the dialogue delivery is vague. Also, the sound design is very poor and there is an constant irritation to the viewer while watching the film espcially in the first half. The camerawork is okay and so was the editing. The storyline is passable but the screenplay could have been a lot better in the begining.
Analysis: The trailers of Balu Gani Talkies showcased the film as a fun social drama set in a small village. But the film is a thriller with mystery as its backdrop. Director Vishwanth has chosen a simple line but narrated the film well by the end. The only issue of Balu Gani Talkies is that it starts on a very dull and pathetic note.. The world building is not that great and bores the audience.
But once the muder happens in the talkies, things turn on its head. One does not guess who the murderer is until the climax is revealed. The investigation scenes, crimes commited by Balu to save himself mislead the audience. This is where the film makes sense as the proceedings in the film are handled well.
The last half an hour of the film is quite gripping and makes for a breezy watch. As the film has new faces, it looks a bit weird but the director Vishwanth handles things well by the end. The manner in which he creates many scenes to confuse the audienc eis quite good.
The climax is one of the highlighs of the film and ends Balu Gani Talkies in a shocking manner. The scenes in the pre-climax and the way the twist is revealed makes up for a good watch on Aha. There are not many major thrills but the film slowly grows on you and makes up for a time pass watch.
Verdict: Overall, Balu Gani Talkies is a village drama that has decen thrills. Technically, the film is bad and starts on a dull note. Once you sit through the intial setup and world busilding, the film has some moments for the thriller movie fans to enjoy the film on Aha.
Bottom Line: Pasaable murder mystery
Rating: 2.5/5
