Bimbisara Movie review: Fantasy delivered perfectly

“Bimbisara”, starring Nandamuri Kalyan Ram, is a very strong comeback film for the actor. The film belongs to the socio-fantasy genre and has an interesting plot about time travel. The film’s trailer looked very impressive and made a promising welcome for the audience to theatres. Jr NTR also backed the film after loving its output. Bimbisara was released in theatres. Let's see how it fares at box-office

Story

Bimbisara (Kalyan Ram) is a harsh and ruthless ruler of Trigartala. He has an understanding and generous twin brother named Devadatta (Kalyan Ram). A fight between the brothers results in the miraculous porting of Bimbisara to the present. How does Bimbisara cope with it in the modern world? The story of how the heart and character of Bimbisara change is the primary plot of the film.

Analysis

Director Vassishta needs to be commended for picking a larger-than-life subject of huge proportions for his very first film. Armed with MM Keeravani's majestic background score, he tells a riveting story that is consistently engaging. The first half and the second half are neatly bisected, with the last scene giving a brief lead to the second part.

In the mid-part of the film, reveals an interesting plot point, which was kept a secret in the trailer. This will be milked to the hilt in 'Bimbisara 2', it would appear.

The two timelines run in parallel. Unlike in the reincarnation stories, this is not a flashback-heavy film. The past and the present go hand-in-hand, complementing the drama and raising the stakes at regular turns. The screenplay has been handled with clarity, by and large. There are a couple of moments where we seek better clarity. Overall, though, it is a good story-telling exercise. There are as many sentimental dialogues as there are punchline-type ones.

On the whole, Bimbisara is a well made fantasy drama with a solid backdrop and entertainment. Kalyan Ram gives his career best performance and the narration is gripping. Apart from a few patchy scenes in the second half, this film has emotions, action, comedy and good visuals that will be lapped by the audience and ends as an interesting film to watch on the big screen.

Performances

Kalyan Ram not only made a strong transformation for the role of Bimbisara, but he also made a strong comeback. It’s pretty admirable how Kalyan Ram portrays an egotistical ruler. He is totally flawless. Every moment of the flashback segment showed him to be really violent. After viewing Kalyan Ram in Bimbisara, doubts would undoubtedly arise in the audience’s minds.

Both Catherine Tresa and Samyuktha Menon gave outstanding performances, with the former putting on significant weight. Catherine simply sparkled in O Tene Palukula. Srinivasa Reddy and Vennela Kishore receive notable roles, and they both successfully defend them. A young girl and Prakash Raj both had significant roles to play in the narrative of “Bimbisara”. In addition to the leads, they can be considered as the solid pillars.

Technicalities

Director Vasshist makes a sparkling debut and is the one to watch out for. His strength lies in the script as the time travel concept is not easy to convince today’s educated youth. But the director passes with flying Colours and narrated the film on a sensible note. The way he showcased Kalyan Ram as the ruthless king who gets transformed is the best part aspect of the film. Just when you think the film is losing grip, a new twist is revealed and makes things interesting. If he would have packed the second half with more drama, the output would have been even more intense.

Lot of money has been spent for the film and it is visible in every scene. The production design and camera work especially showcasing the kingdom are amazing. Songs are packed quite well in the narrative. The dialogue’s especially mouthed by Kalyan Ram are just amazing.

MM Keeravani and Chirrantan Bhatt made a huge impact on film with their background score and songs. The costumes picked for the king are good. The fight sequences are choreographed well and the VFX needs a special mention. The screenplay is quite interesting for the most part but becomes a bit dull in the latter part.

Advantages

Folklore Story

Screenplay

Kalyan Ram

VFX

Disadvantages

Weak Antagonist

Patchy In Parts