Akkineni Nagarjuna and his son Naga Chaitanya’s rural drama, Bangarraju, a spin-off to the 2016 blockbuster Soggade Chinni Nayana is carrying good expectations among the moviegoers. Directed by Kalyan Krishna, the film has hit the screens today. Let’s see how it fares.
Story: Opens in heaven, the film showcases the king-size life of Bangarraju and his joyful moments with his wife( role played by Ramya Krishna). Later, the proceedings lead to the entry of Chinna Bangarraju ( Naga Chaitanya) and his war of words with the village Sarpanch Naga Lakshmi (Krithi Shetty). Disappointed with it, Bangarraju along with his wife returns to Earth to sort out all the issues between both of them. This is the time when Bangarraju also notices that a group of people are planning to steal the village temple property and making a sketch to kill Chinna Bangarraju, who is against them. How will Pedha Bangarraju sort out all the issues between Chinna Bangarraju and Naga Lakshmi and save his grandson from the enemies? Forms the crucial crux of the film.
Performances: Nag is simply superb as Bangarraju and pull off the given role in an effective manner. Be it his dialogue delivery or his mannerisms, watching Nag on screen is just an outstanding experience for the moviegoers.
Naga Chaitanya as Chinna Bangarraju is good but his character has nothing much to perform except for imitating Pedha Bangarraju ( his grandfather). His character lacks originality which is a minus for the film but still Naga Chaitanya’s getup as a village guy is good. Watching Nag and Naga Chaitanya together on screen in a feast for Akkineni fans.
Krithi Shetty as village belle is cute and her chemistry with Naga Chaitanya is adorable. Ramya Krishna, who played the crucial role in Soggade Chinni Nayana did the same character in Bangarraju also but her screen time is limited to only a few scenes.
Technicalities: Anup Rubens’ music is a major plus for Soggade Chinni Nayana but his work for Bangarraju is only limited to a few songs. Adding to it, his background score lacks freshness.
The cinematography by Yuvaraj is top-notch as he presented the village vibe in a beautiful manner. Editing by Vivek Vardhan K is adequate.
The production design is good and so is the case with the production values for this star-studded movie.
Analysis: Kalyan Krishna who directed Soggade Chinni Nayana directs Bangarraju. While the director’s idea of writing the script based on Bangarraju’s character is good, he would have worked even more to explore the fresh approach towards Naga Chaitanya’s character.
Soon after the character establishment scenes, Kalyan Krishna would have focused on presenting the comic angle in Naga Chaitanya through Pedha Bangarraju’s role. If he would have written the first narration in a gripping way, the result would have been even better.
To summerize, Bangarraju is Nagarjuna’s show all the way as he breathes life into the proceedings with his charisma and flawless acting. On the flip side, lack of emotional depth and impactful narration can be termed as drawbacks for the film. In box office prospects, the film has high chances to mint solid revenues during this festival weekend.
Verdict: Bangarraju is back!
Rating: 3/5
