Lucky The Racer [Race Gurram] - Malayalam Movie Review - Allu Arjun, Shruti Haasan

Crew

 Directed by     Surender Reddy
Produced by     Nallamalapu Srinivas (Bujji)
Dr. Venkateswara Rao
Written by     Vakkantham Vamsi
Music by     S. Thaman
Cinematography     Manoj Paramahamsa
Editing by     Goutham Raju
Studio     Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Productions
Distributor E4 Entertainment
Release dates  April 25, 2014

 Cast

    Allu Arjun as Lakshman (Lucky)
    Shruti Hassan as Spandana
    Shaam as Ram
    Tanikella Bharani
    Saloni as Swetha
    Ravi Kishan as Maddhali Siva Reddy
    Prakash Raj as Bheem Prakash
    Pragathi as Spandana's mother
    Pavitra Lokesh as Ram & Lakshman's mother
    Bramhanandam as Kill Bill Pandey
    Ali as Dr. Bali
    M. S. Narayana
    Raghu Babu
    Jaya Prakash Reddy
    Kota Srinivasa Rao
    Mukesh Rishi as Peddi Reddy
    Srinivasa Reddy
    Posani Krishna Murali as Govardhan
    Sayaji Shinde
    Debi Dutta in Item song

Lakshman aka Lucky and Raam are brothers who are at each others throat from their School time. Lucky grows up to be a our normal Telugu movie hero, No job [His ambition is to go to US and work there], boy next door, partying, dancing, bashing up goons etc while Ram grows upto be your typical 2nd hero/ Hero's brother Good, well educated, sophisticated, plus he is a Police Officer too. & as usual the paths of Hero and villains cross, Hero fell head over heels for our heroine at the very first sight and the rest of the story is how Hero ends up with heroine, bash up villains, patch up with brother and fly to America.

 'LTR' is your typical Telugu non-brainer mass masala entertainer, with a story (if there is one) that is ages old. But still the film works to a larger extent thanks to the packaging and tons of Humor embedded into the script. Plus most of the cast also did impressive job, to keep us entertained through most of its run time.

The film may not have 'logic' in most of the scenes, action sequences may be over the top, will break into songs unnecessarily every often, so it may not be your cup of tea if you are not accustomed Telugu brand mass movies. The scripting is what covers many of is flaws and it movies at rapid pace. In the 2nd half  the pace lags a bit, but with the into Kill Bill Pandey the movie reaches the crescendo. For the 20 mins or so following that, you may not really get sense of whats happening, but its damn sure that you will be clapping, whistling, screaming and even rolling on the floor laughing. One of the outrageously entertaining sequences in the recent memory. In that small run time Brahmanandam walks away with the trophy. 

Its a typical Allu Arjun mass vehicle where he has done everything to cater his fan base, especially kids and teenagers [in Kerala]. Those who expects jaw dropping dance moves might be slightly disappointed. He was good in Action, comedy sequences too, as always. Jis Joy, the voice of Mallu Arjun did a neat job, but the 'Eeshwara' couldn't make the same impact as 'Devudaa'. The only thing striking about Shruti Hassan was her lips [Jobbed or Pumped like Anushka Sharma said?]. She has nothing much to do than the regular heroine of mass movies. Brahmanandam as I said before was a scream, brought down the entire house with his Kill Bill Pandey act. Ravi Kishan was able to bring some difference to the villain act. Shaam got a good role after a long time and he was convincing. Posani Krishna Murali rocked in the short role. Think Prakash Raj should stop doing such an unimportant roles (May be to fund his 'Duet Movies').

Direction was good, packaged the whole film without giving people much time to think. Scripting was efficient for a mass film. Dialogues were okay. Music was good, even though the Malayalam lyrics were laughable as always. Background score was superb, especially the Lucky theme and Kill Bill Pandey theme. Cinematography was okay, editing was perfect.

In all if you are a fan of Allu Arjun movies or like Telugu mass movies, you won't be disappointed with 'Lucky The Racer' aka Race Gurram.

Rating: 2.75/5

Verdict: Above Average

Box Office: Telugu version is already a Blockbuster and Allu's biggest hit ever. LTR has taken a superb opening across Kerala too, looks like will end up Allu's biggest hit in Kerala too.