Rarandoi Veduka Chuddam Review: A Film That Leaves You with a Strong Feeling of Déjà vu

Sethumadhavan

What is it about these Telugu family entertainers which seem to follow a pattern that’s predictable to the core? It’s almost like the director and the entire team would go about sitting with a check list of sorts, ensuring that everything on it is taken care of while executing the film. Needless to say the film would definitely involve one or more large joint families, giving scope for a lot of reasonably known character artistes to feature in the film, some of them barely able to feature in a few frames, forget getting any proper dialogues or moments to cherish. There has to be a powerful moment somewhere right in the beginning of the film which kind of provides an emotional spark, perhaps even giving a scope for people to drift away from each other, before of course being on course for a grand reunion eventually. Of course the setting has to be partly in a rural/semi-rural atmosphere in a large mansion of sorts, how else would the film otherwise evoke a feeling of warmth and belonging among the Telugu audience scattered outside the home territory (A.P and Telangana).

There was a time when NRI’s flocked to theatres to watch Hindi films which were based partly in the interiors of Punjab. Seeing the mustard fields and greenery around was enough to make them nostalgic and people like YRF minted money by making sure that they cater to this aspect with their films. But soon the audience went on to evolve and so did Bollywood filmmakers including YRF, they have branched out into making films across themes and the craze for setting up the film in rural Punjab is not all that prevalent anymore in Hindi cinema. Sadly Telugu cinema has not paid any heed to all this, why else would you see films like A Aa and Shatamanam Bhavati doing so well commercially? Why am I going off tangent instead of reviewing Rarandoi Veduka Chuddam is something that you could ask me, fair enough I would say. But believe me when I say this, it’s been a few hours since I’ve watched the latest Telugu release in town and I’m still shaking my head in despair wondering what the makers were thinking of.

A wedding in a village brings Siva (Naga Chaitanya) in touch with Bhramaramba (Rakul Preet) and they get pally after a while. Siva lives with his father (Jagapathi Babu) and helps him run the family business based out of Vizag, while Bhramaramba lives along with her extended family where everyone dotes on her and she shares a special bond with her father (Sampath Raj). For someone who has never lived away from her family and moved out of the village, thinks get a little challenging for Bhramaramba as she lands up in Vizag for her MBA. That’s when she reaches out to Siva to help her as a friend and an informal go to guy of sorts in the city. But while Siva is completely in love with Bhramaramba, she doesn’t really feel the same initially. To add to all this and unknown to both of them there is a family connection that the two of them share. What happens from thereon in the lives of Siva, Bhraramaramba and their near and dear ones is what the crux of the tale is.

Right from the very beginning when we see two friends turning foes (Sampath Raj and Jagapathi Babu) it is an easy guess as to what would be the reason for them to finally get back together. Yes the film is quite predictable in that sense, almost making you wonder how easy the writing by Kalyan Krishna Kurasala must have been. Kalyan who had shown some spark with his debut film, the entertaining Soggade Chinni Nayana, has opted to take the safe route this time around, adding all the regular tropes associated with a Telugu family entertainer. Sadly this is also a move that makes the film suffer as you end up feeling bored after a while. Yes there is a twist in the tale, but it isn’t something that livens up the proceedings completely. Kalyan also sadly has made the character of Bharamaramba into one of the most irritating female lead characters that one has seen in recent times. Not only is she childish, but her constant speaking in the “third person” gets pretty annoying after a while.

The songs by Devi Sri Prasad are quite decent, but there are way too many songs which only add to the length of the film. When the proceedings are predictable and not very appealing the run time of 150 minutes does appear a little too much in fact. The film has a host of popular comedians but except for Vennela Kishore, none of the others get any scope in the film. Sampath Raj and Jagapati Babu are quite effective playing the fathers of Bhramaramba and Siva respectively. Malayalam actor Irshad in a negative role of sorts also gets noticed. Naga Chaitanya plays Siva with ease, playing the regular lover boy here. Rakul Preet sinks into the character well, but sadly as mentioned already it is a character that one wouldn’t remember fondly anyways. Eventually this is a film that is again a grim reminder of why the industry doesn’t seem to be outgrowing the template of family entertainers as of now.

Bottomline:

Rarandoi Veduka Chuddam is a typical Telugu family entertainer with all the tropes intact. Sadly it does not aim to be different or show us anything new, leaving us with a strong feeling of déjà vu.

Rating: 2.5/5