Krishna Vamsi's Rangamarthanda is attracting the attention of all with the star-studded cast apart from the voice-over of Mega Star Chiranjeevi. The makers showed extreme confidence by arranging for special premieres for celebrities and select media personnel. All the celebrities, especially contemporary directors sang praises on the film's emotional comment and Krishna Vamsi's direction and roared 'KV is back'. Perhaps The film's promotions got a good response and the film is releasing on 22 March 2023. The film's OTT streaming rights have been bagged by Amazon Prime and streaming will be done after the end of its theatrical run. Let us find out what Rangamarthanda offered to movie lovers.
Rangamarthanda's story is about a stage actor and the trials and tribulations he faces after he retires from his profession and relinquishes everything. Top film star Siddharth (Ali Reza) finds Rangamarthanda Raghava Rao (Prakash Raj) who is not keen to reveal his identity. He follows him and promises him not to ask any questions and takes him to Kalakshetra in Hyderabad which was gutted in the fire. Rangamarthanda Raghava Rao turns emotional and in the meantime, Siddharth informs Raghava Rao's family members. Why Raghava Rao is in a pitiable condition and what happened to his wife Rajugaru (Ramyakrishnan), son Ranga Rao (Adarsh Balakrishna), daughter-in-law Geeta Rangarao (Anasuya Bharadwaj), daughter Siri aka Bangaram (Shivatmika Rajasekhar), son in law Rahul (Rahul Sipligunj), friend Chakrapani (Brahmanandam) from the crux of the story.
Prakash Raj lived in the role of Rangamarthanda. He showed good emotions, and expressions and his dialogue delivery is excellent. He made his presence felt with his body language. He carried the film on his shoulders. Ramyakrishnan supported him quite well. Though she has very few dialogues, they are impactful. In other scenes, she expressed herself through her eyes. She got the best role in the recent past.
Brahmanandam who is not seen on screen nowadays got a meaty role. The scenes featuring Prakash Raj and Brahmanandam are quite good, touching, and emotional. Adarsh Balakrishna as Prakash Raj's son is ok. He got limited screen presence. Anasuya as Prakash Raj's daughter in law is good. Shivatmika Rajasekhar performed well in the role of Prakash Raj's daughter. She expressed herself quite well as a caring person and then showed good emotions in the later part.
Rahul Sipliguj made his presence felt. He got a good role as the son-in-law of Prakash Raj and impressed with his dialogues. Ali Reza is good as the film star. Others performed according to their roles. Tanikella Bharani played a cameo.
The Rangamarthanda story readied by Krishna Vamsi is the remake of the Marathi film Natasamrat. It is based on Marathi play of the same name written by playwright Kusumagraj. Krishna Vamsi did not tamper with the original but added a few elements and emotions according to the tastes of the Telugu viewers and their sensitivity. The narration starts with the voice-over of Mega Star Chiranjeevi which highlights the life of an actor. The entire first half showed how Rangamarthanda after tasting success as a drama artist, decides to call it a day and decides to complete his responsibilities of distributing his properties to his son and daughter. From then on, the first half showed the change of behavior in the son and daughter-in-law against Rangamarthanda. The first half ends there setting the tone for the second half.
While Krishna Vamsi decided to dedicate the first half to Rangamarthanda's son, he dedicated the second half to Rangamarthanda's daughter. He just passed through the motions in the first half as the son's character is just marginal and the entire proceedings are dominated by his wife. The second half is more emotional with the daughter getting the more prominent role. Finally, the film ends on an emotional note.
Krishna Vamsi's story is nothing new and is seen in many earlier films. The main plot is about how children ignore their parents in their old age after getting their property. The only thing new in this film is the story is blended with the stage artist and drama involved in it. The dialogues are blended with how stage actors or drama artists act on stage in various roles and how in real life people act conveniently. His screenplay and direction lacked an emotional connection though most of the film is loaded with high emotions.
His screenplay looked convoluted and unidimensional. He tried to paint the younger generation as the cause of all the problems and this may not connect chords with the current generation people. Krishna Vamsi penned the story from his viewpoint and this may touch and appeal to only the older generation who are actually averse to going out and watching films in theatres. Though the plot is predictable, Krishna Vamsi loaded the film and narration with intense emotions connecting the chords with the movie lovers.
The dialogues are touching and pierce hearts. Prakash Raj and Brahmanandam's dialogues for the major part and their scene in the hospital bring tears to the eyes of all. Similarly, the way Prakash Raj reacts when the International School advocates talking in English and punishing students for speaking in their mother tongue (Telugu) and the way he reacts when the school makes children dance to some songs with double-meaning words, making everyone's blood boil. Prakash Raj and Ramyakrishnan's scenes move all completely. Ramyakrishnan supports Prakash Raj and also warns him when he was about take major decisions blindly out of love for his children is an eye-opener to all. When Prakash Raj reacts strongly along with Ramyakrishnan when they were accused of taking their daughter's money, people get connected to him.
Pawan Kumar's editing could have been better. There are many repetitive scenes that dragged the pace and slowed the narration. Raj K Nalli's cinematography is ok. He could have used camera angles in a more perfect manner. Maestro Ilayaraja's music suits the mood of the movie and one song is quite good. The background music also seems to be an integral part of the story. Dialogues are powerful and emotional. But at times they turned extremely preachy. Though the production values look pretty ordinary, the entire team should be complimented for Faced with financial difficulties, passing through the two covid waves and lockdown and deciding to go for the theatrical release rejecting the fancy offers from the OTTs.
Altogether, Rangamathanda is an Emotional Saga directed by Krishna Vamsi is a direct attack on the younger generation who neglect their parents. The film has a tagline 'Amma Naannala Katha'. The story is emotionally driven and touches the hearts of all piercing the souls. Rangamarthanda is helped by powerful and impactful performances from the extremely talented cast. Krishna Vamsi got the optimum performances from the entire cast and crew and made a powerful impact with beautiful emotions. Had Krishna Vamsi fine-tuned the script and added a few more youthful elements, Rangamarthanda would have roared at the box office. Considering all these aspects, Cinejosh goes with a 3 Rating for Rangamarthanda.