STORY PREMISE
Ranarangam is a fictional, semi-biographical story of Deva, who earns living by selling black tickets at movie theaters, along with his group of friends.
In this movie, we witness the rise of Deva, a lower middle class guy, from the suburbs of Vizag city, to an invincible underworld don who can command the whole city’s underworld mafia. To spice up the proceedings, the subject is dealt with two parallel narratives, by intercutting, between the initial phase of Deva’s life in Vizag and the present phase of Deva’s life in Spain.
What are the adversaries he faces? What catapulted him to turn out into a powerful don that he is now, and why he had to move to Spain are some of the unanswered questions, we need to witness in the movie.
SCREENPLAY & DIRECTION
Looking at the bright side of the movie - the emphasis on realistic presentation; the earthy look; the authentic and relatable characterization of people in Vizag city; gives a unique feel to the film. Director Sudheer Varma’s work looks superior in Vizag episodes. The technical and artistic work achieved here looks superior comparatively to Spanish episodes, which somehow lacks that punch.
The story premise is interesting, the efforts the cast & crew have put in, is commendable. And yet the movie viewing experience doesn’t seem to be, as engaging as it should have been. It falls short of our expectations. It falls short, in weaving an engaging story around the interesting scenarios, that are present in the story. The plot seems shallow, lacks depth. This, I believe, is may be because the director must have put his primary focus on stylizing the subject. And in this process, sadly, the narrative gets a secondary treatment.
Another factor that cuts down on curiosity levels, in the narrative is, everything seems easily attainable to the lead character. We can see, only a couple of scenarios that push the lead character to the extreme, rest of the scenarios seem like welcoming the moves of the lead character. That makes the story look predictable and makes us care less about the proceedings. Another serious issue, because of the weak screenplay, even the most powerful dialogues with deeper meaning, fizzle out without creating any impact, as the screenplay doesn’t deal with the stakes involved properly.
PERFORMANCES
Sharwanand did complete justice to the lead character, Deva. He is particularly impressive as younger Deva in Vizag episodes. Kalyani Priyadarshan looks cute and innocent. Her performance is completely believable. Kajal looks apt. But she has limited screen presence, probably her portions must have been chopped off in the editing room, to keep the narrative short and crisp. Murali Sharma is seen as a local MLA. We see a different Murali Sharma here, because of his distinguished act. And another surprising thing is that he looks menacing with his varied demeanor and voice, shredding down the soft natured man image, that he is usually associated with, in his earlier works. Sudarshan generates good humor. He seems to be back in his elements in this movie. All the other cast did a fine job. Director should be appreciated for extracting good performances from all his actors.
OTHER DEPARTMENTS
Cinematography - The stylized cinematography is a big plus. It stands out even when the scenarios lack punch(narrative wise).
Music - a couple of songs give fresh and earthy feel. BGM is good, adds value to the proceedings.
Editing - Editing is good but it could have been better, if it had avoided some of the unnecessary detailing that hinder smoother flow.
And lastly, we can witness an impressive work from the production design and costume design departments.
OVERALL IMPACT
On a final note, the hard work put in by the team is very much evident. The technical work is commendable. But unfortunately we can’t give the same appreciation to the narrative part. It lags, a couple of steps behind, compared to its technical counterpart.
RATING: 2.75/5
CAST: Sharwanand, Kalyani Priyadarshan, Murali Sharma, Kajal Aggarwal, Sudarshan Reddy, Brahmaji, Ajay
DIRECTOR: Sudheer Varma
PRODUCER: Suryadevara Naga Vamsi
PRODUCTION BANNER: Sithara Entertainments
SCREENPLAY: Sudheer Varma
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Divakar Mani
MUSIC: Prashanth Pillai
EDITING: Naveen Nooli
PRODUCTION DESIGN: S Ravinder
Thanks for visiting,
Maheshnandu
