Movie Review: Guntur Kaaram

The much-awaited Sankranti release, coming in the combination of Superstar Mahesh Babu and director Trivikram Srinivas, Guntur Kaaram, has finally hit the screens worldwide on Jan 12th.

Let’s delve into the details of what works and what doesn’t for this highly anticipated Tollywood movie.

Story:

The story begins with 10-year-old Ramana (played by Mahesh Babu) being abandoned by his mother (played by Ramya Krishnan) under mysterious circumstances. Ramana grows up under his father and aunt. His mother’s family keeps him away and his mother is married off to someone else. After growing up, in the current time, the plot revolves around his mother’s father (played by Prakash Raj) requesting Ramana to sign a document that says he has no connection to the family. They try to make him sign this in order to cut off all ties with him and clear the path for the political entry of Ramya Krishnan’s younger son, played by Rahul Ravindran.

In this circumstance, we are introduced to Sreeleela’s character, along with Vennela Kishore, Jagapati Babu, Easwari Rao, Meenakshi Chaudhary and others. The entire first half is spent with Ramya Krishnan’s family’s numerous attempts to make Ramana sign the agreement and him rejecting each time. Finally, their efforts bear fruit at the interval bang.

The rest of the story revolves around: Why has Ramya Krishnan really left Ramana and his father? Does she really hate him or love him? Does Ramana come back to take revenge on Prakash Raj’s character who keeps troubling Ramana throughout? These questions will be answered once you watch this movie.

Screenplay and Analysis:

The first half of the movie has mild entertainment with Mahesh Babu’s character being the stand-out performer, followed by Sreeleela. Trivikram’s vintage humour and hilarious punches are nowhere to be seen and the fun generally comes out of fights and dances.

The chemistry between Sreeleela and Mahesh is commendable. Each actor has done justice to their role.

Towards the end of the first half, the audience feels as though the same point has been dragged out for far too long and there’s a need for a changeover.

The second half picks up tempo and the story takes new turns in this part of the movie. The story progresses in an expected path, but the Pokiri-like twist towards the end may come as a shock to many people in the audience. It is a moment of awe that Trivikram has planned for the audiences, in the same vein as Attarintiki Daredi. The final 30 minutes of the movie serve as the backbone of this movie. Everything said and done up to that point takes a serious turn from then on and finally the story is resolved with an emotional adieu.

These 30 minutes become crucial to determine whether the film is a success or not. Film is a subjective medium and different audiences may connect differently to such delicate emotions. On first watch, the emotions in these critical scenes, though portrayed sincerely, could not give the audience the fulfilment that vintage Trivikram movies used to deliver. The screenplay seems to have ended abruptly even though the conflict is resolved. The movie ends without delivering the entertainment that a Trivikram-Mahesh combination is expected to give.

Acting:

Mahesh can be seen portraying a myriad of emotions from comedy and anger to being vulnerable and showing anguish.

Sreeleela’s dances in the movie are top-notch. Her fans would definitely love her performance though her role does not impact the plot much. Surprisingly, Trivikram made Mahesh commit to one of his best dance performances in his movies so far. Mahesh Babu sometimes dances on par with Sreeleela and entertains with his energy.

Every actor did well in their respective role but most were not made full use of. Especially, Meenakshi Chaudhary, Jagapati Babu and Sunil looked out of place in these small cameos where they literally do not do anything in the movie.

Direction:

Trivikram Srinivas’s direction in the movie seems tired and brooding. He seems to have moved far away from the mindset of an average Telugu audience member sitting in the crowd and is writing with his own calculations of how to hammer similar messages into the audience’s brains every time. Even technically, the stylization, the use of BGM and some action episodes seem a bit choppy and even outdated for 2024. All that said, director Trivikram Srinivas’s single-minded focus in highlighting the central message in the screenplay, that is ‘casteism’, is commendable. Had he given it more time and planned it with more entertainment, the result would have been much better.

Technical Departments:

The songs composed by Thaman serve the situations well, but the background music has disappointed one and all. It was neither subtle nor in-your-face, it was just lurking beneath the surface even as it had massy overtones. Thaman failed to capture the exact emotion on screen with his BGM on numerous occasions.

The cinematography by Manoj Paramahamsa was adequate. Most notably, there is almost no apparent use of VFX in the entire film. Naveen Nooli’s editing was subpar. There were too many missed opportunities to make the film more crisp or tighten the overall narrative.

Plus Points:

• Mahesh Babu’s characterization and his performance
• Sreeleela’s dances and chemistry with Mahesh
• Twist in the second half
• Ramya Krishnan’s portrayal as the mother
• Some action episodes and songs
• The political message of the movie

Minus Points:

• A boring first-half
• Unresolved end to the character of ‘Guntur Kaaram’, that is Ramana
• Unsatisfying emotional track in the second half
• Most characters in the movie are just props for Mahesh’s story and do not have a full-fledged character of their own
• Weak entertainment value

All in all, Guntur Kaaram is nowhere near the best of either Mahesh Babu or Trivikram. Especially, in their combination, a movie like this, coming out after so many years, disappoints.

Bottom Line: Commercial Hit, Mahesh One-man show, One-time family watch