Guntur Kaaram Movie Review

The combination that is considered one of the best, Trivikram and Mahesh Babu joined forces after many years for Guntur Kaaram, a mass drama from the duo. The trailer has no signs of a Trivikram movie but looks like an ultra-mass treat from Mahesh Babu. The latest sensation Sreeleela is the female lead and Meenakshi Chaudhary appeared in a brief role. The movie was released in theaters and let us see if it is really the one their fans had been waiting all these years. Here is the review from one of the US premieres.

What Is It About?

Vyra Vasundhara (Ramya Krishna) leaves her son Ramana (Mahesh Babu) when he was ten years old and her husband for a reason only known to her. She gets married again. Ramana grows up and that is when his grandfather Venkataswamy (Prakash Raj) influential politician, comes back into Ramana’s life forcing him to cut ties forever with his mother. Why did Vasundhara leave Ramana? How does Ramana deal with his grandfather? The answers to these questions are all about Guntur Kaaram.

Performances

Mahesh Babu is super impressive in the role of ‘Ramana Gadu’. The man gets into that mass character and does full justice to the role. It is the thin plot and clueless narrative from Trivikram that wasted Mahesh’s efforts.

Sreeleela was given a role without substance, yet she scored marks where she is good at, dancing. Sreeleela impresses with her dance moves, like always. Meenakshi Chaudhary has got a very brief role and she is alright. Ramya Krishna, Prakash Raj, and Murli Sharma are usual. Jayaram’s character appears repetitive. Jagapathi Babu appears in a so very ordinary role which we don’t expect at all. Ajay, Vennela Kishore, and Eeswari Rao did their job.

Technicalities

Guntur Kaaram is a substandard work from both the director and the music director. The movie falters in every part because of a lifeless plot padded by forced comedy and a tiring narrative.

The background music is so lifeless and unsteady that it doesn’t make any scene impressive. The songs Dum Masala and Kurchi Madathapetti songs are passable and the remaining songs just come and go.

Thumbs Up:

Mahesh Babu
Sreeleela’s Dance

Thumbs Down:

Stale plot
Trivikram’s writing
Dialogues
BGM

Analysis:

The combination of Trivikram and Mahesh Babu is one of the most awaited ones. While their Athadu and Khaleja are entirely different from each other, Trivikram seems to be caught in a routine formula of ‘separated wife’ and the protagonist ‘son’ making everything alright with his efforts. Guntur Kaaram is yet again in the same bottle but labeled with a new mass sticker.

A strong-willed lady with much self-respect leaves her husband and son behind and never looks back. Leaving Aravind Sametha put, Trivikram’s last four films are of the same template and Guntur Kaaram offers nothing new or exceptional.

The first half of Guntur Kaaram is strictly average with a single thread of getting a ‘signature’ dragged until the interval. Also, the logic behind seeking a signature to severe ties for their own political benefits appears far from sense and logic. Neither the comedy nor the dialogues work well in the first half. Vennela Kishore tries to bring some laughs but only succeeds in a very few instances. The interval bang is expected to give a super high, but that too goes flat and calm. Each character in the movie reminds us of similar ones from the director’s other movies.

The weak first half puts a heavy burden on the latter half, which eventually ends up being even more pale and flat. A few fights and forced comedy might enthrall in bits and pieces, but that did not help the falling graph. From Haridas’ fight and comedy to the climax, nothing really worked great. Dum Masala Song in the first half and Kurchi Madathapetti Song in the second might entice the mass fans.

There is no Trivikram-mark comedy or one-liners in the whole movie. The plot, narration, and mainly the dialogues that are said to be the selling points of Trivikram, fail miserably. The climax dialogues are expected to be the saviors, but they end up being flat and way below the wizard’s known standard. The second half also has a ton of repetitive scenes and forced comedy episodes. Thaman’s background music is unimpressive and is a big letdown for Guntur Kaaram.

For a movie that is said to be a mass masala entertainer, there is not even one moment or scene that looks like a proper highlight. Mahesh Babu has put in his full efforts for Guntur Kaaram, but just his fresh Kaaram won’t work all by itself when the cook picks a poor recipe and stale ingredients. Mahesh Babu entertains in every frame with an all-round performance in emotional scenes to comedy and good dance moves with Sreeleela, whatnot, the only man who gave complete effort for Guntur Kaaram.

Overall, Guntur Kaaram is inarguably the weakest work of Trivikram, and Mahesh Babu’s efforts have gone to waste. The movie garnered huge openings and it has to be seen how it fares in the full run with three other movies in the same race.

Bottomline: Mahesh – Whistle Worthy, Trivikram – Adey Sutthi

Rating: 2.5/5