Rudramadevi - Interesting Tale keeps it afloat
Bharath Vijayakumar
Historical/Fantasy/Period films seem to be the in-thing at the moment. Close on the heels of Baahubali and Puli comes Rudramadevi. Does the film have enough meat in it to convert our hero worshiping masses to worship a heroine, atleast temporarily?
Plot:
A princess is disguised as a prince to save a kingdom.
Cast:
Anushka is that rare mix of beauty and talent in mainstream cinema. And it is no surprise that she is one of the reasons that we sit through Rudramadevi. Despite the absence of any real scene that makes us sit up or notice her emoting she has that presence to carry the movie on her shoulders. Allu Arjun plays to the gallery and is amusing. The dubbing probably makes him look like a caricature. Rana and the others have little to do. Nithya Menon makes an impression even in a very short role.
Making:
Ever since we saw the trailer we knew that the special effects were below par. And for a film that on this scale this is a little disappointing. The makers could have atleast camouflaged this huge shortcoming with some interesting one to one combat scenes. But most of the action sequences too are cringeworthy on the large screen. The pillow fights that you were part of as kids could seem more dangerous than what you get to see in this film. But despite this the film is watchable for the most part because of the story which has a lot going for it.The initial half about Rudramadevi coming to terms with her identity makes for some interesting viewing. What you needed was some tension in the film. Everytime the central character faces an adversity she so easily overcomes it in the very next scene. A little struggle is what we wanted to watch.
Bottomline:
A decent plot and Anushka make Rudramadevi eminently watchable.
Rating: 2.5/5