Released alongside big dubbing flicks ‘Bethaludu, Manyam Puli;’ in fact Puri Jagannath’s brother Sai Ram Shankar’s most delayed ‘Araku Road Lo’ missed all the attention. Directed by fresher Waasudev with bombshell Nikesha Patel as heroine, this thriller ride isn’t a real bad movie because of grippingly narrated first half. Like every Indian movie, Waasudev botched up with second half.
‘Araku Road Lo’ starts off on exciting element like missing of heavy vehicles and drivers on Araku road (based on true life incidents). Cracking the mystery behind by revealing a serial killer is also decent. All the comedy, romance, crime and sentiment drama weaved on Sai Ram Shankar’s character is also neatly handled. Most importantly, Sai performed naturally without exhibiting the heroism which proved good in ending the first half smoothly with a bang twist.
Second half suffered with lack of span in the story and Wassudev made deliberate attempts to pass the time by adding Prudhvi’s comedy, item song and other stuff. Till pre climax, the film is dragged without generating curiosity. All in all, ‘Araku Road Lo’ is a better film compared to Sai Ram Shankar’s past credentials. Director Waasudev worked this project on a big canvass with decently high budget, superb technical standards and known artists. Yet, Sai Ram needs a bigger break than this to give a re-entry.