Routine potboiler

Finally the much awaited, yet much delayed ‘Yevadu’ had a theatrical release. Director Vamsi Paidipally has churned out a concoction which will appeal to and satisfy all the fans of Ram Charan as the movie falls in the formulaic pattern having the regular ingredients of action, romance, songs etc. Here one should add there is an overdose of violence and perhaps less of comedy as per the expectations of the audience. Vamsi treads the oft-trod safe path not giving into new treatment and instead giving the usual potboiler.

The movie begins with Sathya (Allu Arjun) and Deepthi (Kajal Aggarwal) who are in love. But Veerubhai (Rahul Dev) casts his eyes on Deepthi and when both of them try to run away in a bus to Hyderabad. Veeru Bhai’s men come and kill Deepthi , stab Sathya and burn the bus! However Sathya survives despite the stab wounds and partly charred face and is taken to hospital where he is operated upon by Dr Shailaja (Jayasudha) and given a new face (Charan). Sathya goes back and takes revenge on Veerubhai and his men (Ajay who plays brother, Shravan who plays inspector) masquerading as Ram. When you think the villains are vanquished the film is over wait, Vamsi gives more. So the second half has a new angle.

The film is the usual vendetta saga with loads of action, some of which is quite horrifying to watch. There are some loose ends in the plot which are overlooked. And one has seen these kinds of films before. Amy Jackson, for instance plays a budding actress in the first half and has nothing much to do and is dropped almost like a hot potato! Wonder why she accepted such a role. The villainy gets a bit too much to digest in the second half. The story is rather pedestrian and predictable.

The film scores high on the technical front – be it the rich production values of producer ‘Dil’ Raju, cinematography (Shyam K Naidu), editing, music, (Devi Sri Prasad) picturesque locales etc. The film is tad long at two hours 46 minutes. Ram Charan perhaps has got an intense and role of depth in ‘Yevadu’ and ably carries it well. His fans can rejoice to see him dance and fight well too. The heroism is elevated with the action and the punchy lines given to him. Amy Jackson and Shruti Haasan just up the oomph factor in the film. Like in every commercial film they do not have much to do. Jayasudha is dignified as the doctor. The cameo by Allu Arjun and Kajal Aggarwal is impactful. Sai Kumar tries to look menacing. One felt Kota Srinivasa Rao and Brahmanandam could have been used better. LB Sriram puts in a good performance.

On the whole, the film is a Sankranthi dhamaka for Charan’s fans. They can celebrate and rejoice! For the rest it’s the usual fare sans anything new.