Mass Maharaj Raviteja has been silent for a while and made a re-entry with this flick directed by Patas, Supreme fame Anil Ravipudi and produced by safe handed Dil Raju. Playing the blind character, let us see what’s great about Raviteja and the film?
Prakash (Prakashraj) is a sincere police officer who gets killed in the hands of local don Deva (Vivan) and the gang is now on a search for his daughter Lucky (Mehreen). Police begin a secret operation to hide Lucky from Deva and forms a special team in which our blind hero Raja (Raviteja) is forcibly joined. Raja is the son of lady constable Anantha Lakshmi (Radhika) who dreams of becoming a cop. Yes, Raja becomes the savior for Lucky, clears her problems and fulfills her noble ambitions.
Anil Ravipudi’s story is wafer thin, revolves around rescuing heroine which automatically left ample space to elevate heroism and make best use of Raviteja’s mass image. There’s lot of underground screenplay work done in penning the characterizations or filling the narrative with sparks at regular intervals without missing entertainment quotient. Episodes like Prakashraj adopting a girl child every year, Sai Kumar’s small appearance in second half, placement of Gunna Gunna Mamidi song in a funny family context and so many of such bits and pieces stitched into story telling showed the level of expertise Anil Ravipudi gained as a writer off late and executing them to perfection as a pure commercial director. Best part of Anil’s direction is, making audience sit comfortably for two and half hours watching a blind hero in action with cent percent believability. Thanks to Raviteja’s energy levels in sync at Anil’s direction. Mohana Krishna’s camera work is regular while editing by Thammiraju missed the sharpness in second half. Songs from Sai Karthik are just ok except the first song which rocked. Background score is too good. Production standards from Dil Raju are as usual good.
On to performances, Raviteja lived into the character throwing his lively energy levels, comic mannerisms and smart body language into the blind character. He is the main source of entertainment for RTG. Mehreen looked good in few angles and needs to cut down some weight to progress in career. Srinivas Reddy got a lengthy sidekick role to hero and hilarious with Mukha Chitram mannerism. Rajendra Prasad is wasted like Jaya Prakash Reddy and Sampath Raj. Presence of Prakashraj bought some weight to this thin story. Vivan as villain is here to stay. Tanikella is best in Telangana dialect. Radhika did a good job. Rest of the comedians like Prudhvi, Posani, Prabhas Srinu, Sathyam Rajesh, Chitram Srinu, Hariteja, Sana and a big batch showed their presence. Raviteja’s son Mahadhan made a decent debut.
Raviteja
Non Stop Entertainment
Emotional Quotient
Fights
Story
Dragged Second Half
Illogical Treatment
Repeated Heroism Elevation
Playing a blind hero devoid of logics on a commercially treated screenplay won’t be an easy task for any director. Anyhow, Anil Ravipudi got a strong hero in RaviTeja on his side which made heroism to shine on peaks which is the main USP of RTG. Nevertheless, major episodes are clichéd but the big time gap taken by Raviteja might work in film’s favor because a visually impaired hero performing energetic stunts might appeal to the targeted audience. Anil of course hasn’t missed any slot in his screenplay from missing the entertainment.
Narrative starts on introducing us to Mehreen’s childhood with father Prakash Raj and his death in the hands of goons. When police search for a savior, obviously it’s a ritualistic entry for Raviteja who showed large authenticity into blind characterization. In parallel, Vivan’s villain acts with Tanikella Bharani as his father were well written. Once the frame shifts to Darjeeling, there is plenty of action imparting the intelligent fun factor too. Interval block fight sequence is terrifically shot.
Second half, it’s time for Vivan and Raviteja to confront openly. Three to four repeatedly shot confrontational scenes between the two is unjustified and silly. On the other side, Anil running a family drama blended in comedy on Posani and team at home is a time tested formula meant for just filling. With three to four fights arranged in a row, climax fight had a logical interpretation.
All in all, Raja The Great is a complete mass commercial package with too many cinematic liberties that can work well with Raviteja Fans because it’s his big comeback. Anil Ravipudi’s efforts in penning a simple story and treated with loads of entertainment is praiseworthy. In Box Office terms, the film may collect big in lower order centers. CJ goes for 3 stars.