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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.

Lucky The Racer ( Race Gurram) Kerala Release Paper aD with theater list

'Lucky The Racer' (Race Gurram) First Look Posters - Allu Arjun, Shruti Haasan

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Bhaiyya [Yevadu Malayalam Dub] - Movie Review

 Bhaiyya [Yevadu Malayalam Dub] - Movie Review

 Crew

 Directed by     Vamsi Paidipally
Produced by     Dil Raju
Written by     Vamsi Paidipally, Abburi Ravi
Screenplay by     Vamsi Paidipally
Story by     Vakkantham Vamsi
Music by     Devi Sri Prasad
Cinematography     Shyam K. Naidu
Studio     Sri Venkateswara Creations
Distributed by   Percy Pictures
Release dates  31 January 2014

 Cast

    Ram Charan Teja as Satya / Ram / Charan
    Shruti Haasan as Manju
    Amy Jackson as Shruthi
    Allu Arjun as Satya (Cameo)
    Kajal Aggarwal as Deepthi (Cameo)
    Sai Kumar as Dharma
    Rahul Dev as Dheeru Bhai
    Kota Srinivasa Rao
    Shashank as Shashank
        Jayasudha
    Brahmanandam

Bhayya deals with story of Satya & Charan. Satya & Deepthi, who are madly in love with each other, while trying to escape from the hands of a local don gets brutally injured by his henchman. Even though Deepthi gets killed Satya survives, but with severe burn injuries. Doctors order skin grafting to save Sathya and he gets the face of an unknown who died on the same day. After few months getting recovered from the injuries Sathya comes back for revenge. How he takes on the bad guys, whose face is Sathya currently donning, what's his story, forms the rest of film.

Even though its a typical Telugu mass masala revenge story its the writing that makes the film a good entertainer. The film has elemnts inspired from films like 'face Off' 'Thirupachi' etc. The intelligent scripting coupled with racy narration is the biggest plus of Bhayya. The way Sathya draws out the villains and gets his revenge is interestingly done. Even though its falls to the usual track in the 2nd half its in the later half that we get few of the most powerful & emotionally charged scenes and dialogues in the movie. The film is a much better entertainer than Raccha & Nayak IMO.

Logic seems missing here and there, but since its a crime to watch Mass Masala films with brain,that topic can be left alone tagged 'Cinematic Liberty'. Thank fully over the top action sequences has been limited to a greater extent. The violence, glamor quotient also doesn't go over board.

Ram Charan delivers efficiently what was required of him - Dancing, bashing up goons, mouthing punch dialogues etc. Jaya Sudha gets a powerful role, even though mainly limited to 2nd half. Allu Arjun fans will be disappointed as he hardly there for 15 mins, even though every single poster had him with prominence.[Still don't know why the film was titled Bhaiyya My Brother] Among the heroines its Kajal, who comes in a short role, that impresses, Shruthi & Amy were limited to usual glam dolls. Rest of the cast did their jobs okay.

Direction & writing were good. Usual revenge story told/presented in an entertaining manner. Songs except the first one were average. Background score was good. Cinematography was efficient and editing was crisp.

In all Bhaiyya has 'everything' you expect from a Telugu mass entertainer.

Rating: 3/5

Verdict: Good

Last Word: Would have loved a bit more of Allu Arjun