Races towards finish line in style

The Bard is back, but on the sets of Tollywood. He is out to tell us how blood is thicker than water and how good will win over evil in three hours or thereabouts. This is a full blast ‘commercial masala,’ just the kind we watched a week ago. It is about Tollywood heroics. The guy-goon clash, the guy-gal romance, all berserk, unbelievable and presumably entertaining! Even as common sense takes a back seat, the high speed revelation leaves you with neither time nor space for logic. As opined herein before we are riding a tiger, we have been given to believe that entertainment is about this larger-than-life canvas of song, dance, punch, kill…. Take a star and the script is a prey to his image. It invariably dances to his feet and beats to his biceps. Everything hangs precariously on the next gala step he is willing to take, his producer willing to invest and his director willing to exaggerate. The task is obviously to get larger than before.

Here Ram (Shaam) and Lakshman aka Lucky (Allu Arjun) do not get the ideal sibling bonding. Brewing sibling rivalry often nurtured sub-consciously by parents (Tanikella Bharani and Pavitra Lokesh) only draws a defined rift between the two. While the scholastic at school and living by the book Ram becomes a police officer, happy-go-lucky Lucky (Lakshman) has his group of friends (Srinivas Reddy and Thagubothu Ramesh) for company and fun. The script gets kick-started when bad guy and aspiring politician Siva Reddy (Ravi Kishen) gets into the act, bullies the political bigwig including party boss ( Kota) and gets the ‘ticket’ to contest. When law (read Ram) tries to catch up with him, there is a conspiracy hatched to kill him. Caught in the crossfire is Lucky. In the midst of Rajnitronics, Lucky shows his muscle power and hangs Shiva Reddy to a tree and returns home as if he just had a pizza at a popular joint.

Time for mayhem to replace melody so the romance between Spandana (Shruti Hasan) takes the back seat. Arriving in the melee are Home Minister (Posani Krishna Murali) and Peddi Reddy (Mukesh Rishi - dad of villain Siva Reddy) who contribute to the increased din and dust which only gets more hyperbolized, loud and dramatic. Our hero swings between the imagination of the stunt master and the creativity of the choreographer. Dance, fight, stunt, strut – so goes the script.

The storyline is predictable. The created loose ends: emotions between the brothers, romance between the lead pair, ego of the villain and hero - all have to be sorted out. The romance and the revenge saga mingle as ever in Tollywood matinee magic. In the midst of all, this we have the entry of Dr Bali (Ali- a short and pleasant cameo) and Kill Bill Pandey (Brahmanandam- in yet another hilarious avatar and take on Chulbul Pandey of ‘Dabangg’). In the midst of whistles galore, the yet in fashion ‘good-over-evil’ script journeys through the usual milestones of villain dens, media house telecasts, songs and stunts to reiterate that muscle flexing - only muscle flexing can save the day.

The virtue of the film is its speed. Though spread over 160 minutes and packed with every predictable twist at the turn, it still keeps you engaged. Among the veterans we have Prakash Raj keeping you engaged for a while. However, the film surely belongs to Allu Arjun. He takes the unpretentious role and delivers the punch. The script depends heavily on him – nay, it is built for him and he rightly does not let go of the opportunity. It is big fare for Allu Arjun fans. Time Shruti Hasan did something more than arrive as a decked piece. Shaam has a good opportunity and puts in a sincere effort. The film belongs to Brahmanandam, once he arrives. He keeps you in splits. The film is in a very defined spice. It is a cultivated taste. This Race Gurram is designed for the Derby, not for Polo. Once that is understood everything falls in place.