Raja Vaaru Rani Gaaru Review - A simple and sweet little film!

Bharath Vijayakumar

Whenever we thought of Telugu cinema our minds subconsciouly used to associate it with over the top masalas with the heroes performing outlandish stunts. Now cinema across the globe has sort of made itself accessible to everyone and we can see the influence of this in regional cinema. The recent years have seen a lot of varied films from the Telugu industry and the good news is that the audience too seem to be gradually warming up to every kind of cinema.

Raja Vaaru Rani Gaaru isn't pathbreaking cinema. The one liner in fact is as old as the hills. A shy guy isn't able to muster courage to profess his love to the girl he likes. But set in rural Andhra, this film is like a whif of fresh air for how it makes use of the visual medium. Both the cinematography and music are exquisite and even when there are moments when nothing much is happening , these two elements have you invested in the film.

You sense the vibe of Premam (Malayalam) in the earlier portions of Raja Vaaru Rani Gaaru. The two friends, their bond with the protagonist, their failed attempts to have the hero face his girl and how the trio deal with the girl's father share the Premam sensibilities. The movie isn't similar to Premam but you can draw parallels with the George - Mary high school portions of the Malayalam blockbuster.

The lead pair doesn't exactly set the screen on fire but there is a feel of realism in their performance. The guy in particular could actually be camera shy but this suits the character he is playing on screen. What also works is the ordinariness of the lead pair. They look like normal people on the streets, devoid of the glamour that you would associate with mainstream romantic cinema. But the showstealers are the two guys playing Choudhary and Naidu. Humour comes quite easily and spontaneously to both these actors and their performance is what keeps the film adequately entertaining.

The film stretches itself a bit too much and there are periods of nothing much happening in the second half. The helplessness of the guy and his fear in proposing to the girl doesn't hit you hard. I am not talking about the lighthearted nature of the film but whether you are really rooting for the lead pair to be together with all your heart is a question mark. When the plot is very thin, you need to pack the film with interesting incidents.The film goes through brief periods of lull but something keeps pulling you back sooner than later.

Bottomline:

Much like its title, Raja Vaaru Rani Gaaru is a very simple but sweet little film. Debutant director Ravi Kiran Kola makes an impressive debut and leaves a mark as someone with strong visual aesthetics.

Rating: 3/5