Magadheera - Royal and spellbinding
(Friday, July 31, 2009)

The time has come for all those who were waiting to see the magnum opus. The film ‘Magadheera’ with Ramcharan Teja and Kajal Agarwal finally hit the screens and this is deemed as the most promising blockbuster beating the likes of ‘Pokiri’. How good was it, let us see.

Story

In the 16th century, Kalabhairava (charan) is a warrior general and Mitra (Kajal) is his queen. However, she is in love with him and he loves her too but never expresses it. Mitra is lusted by her relative Randev (devgill) and he is the commander in chief of the kingdom of Udaygarh. He manages to separate Bhairava and Mitra but not before he dies. The story comes to the present times when Harsha (charan), an avid biker has his life going smoothly. This takes a turn when his hand brushes with that of Indu (kajal) on a rainy day and before he sees her, he knows that there is something between them. Finally he manages to see her and love happens. But not before, Randev is born again as Indu’s relative and history repeats. Does Indu know her past? Is Harsha successful in his love? Go to the theatres and watch it.

Performances

Charan has come up with a mature performance and he has carried the film very well. Both his characters were done good justice and he reminded of his father at many places. Kajal looked bubbly, seductive and royal and she was the best choice. Devgill was a letdown as he could not emote that well, his act could have been tuned. Srihari was effective, Sunil was neat, Brahmi was regular, Sarath Babu was graceful, the others did their bit as per the standard.

Technical aspects

The main life and soul of the movie is the graphics and the visual effects department. They were well supported by a masterly cinematography. The script was without any loose ends, the screenplay was neat and the background score was alright. Editing was crisp, two songs were worth humming, the picturization of the songs was good. Art department and costumes get full marks in this.

Director’s portrayal

The director has been careful not to divert anywhere and he has shown his gift of narrative during the second half. Though the content was not much, he has been able to use his experience and kept the audience engaged. The storyline of the film finds traces of Hollywood flicks but then he has converted them enough to suit the Telugu audience.

Critic’s view

The film deserves a special credit for many reasons, notable among them is the grandeur of the movie and the amazing technical aspects. While the first half was rather weak and the take off was a bit on the slow side, the film picks up rapidly and makes up for the lost time. This is surely a path breaker in terms of Telugu film making and with the likes of ‘Arundhati’, Tollywood sure is proud to have this one in its league. It is a valiant attempt to bring such genre to the modern day audience and present it with finesse so that it fits the historical angle and the today’s angle. Though the content part may not be impressive, it is the presentation and the engaging scenes that should take the movie to a bumper success at the box office.

Highlights:

The film should be watched for undergoing an unspeakable experience with the following:

*
The bike adventure in first half
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The Set of Udayagadh replicating the 16th century empire city
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Background sound that brings Goosebumps
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Wonderful canning of songs viz., Cheppinde Cheppake.., BangaruKodi petta and Dheera Dheera
*
Battle at Bhaiaravakona between Kalabhairava and Sher Khan’s soldiers
*
Climax song for its creativity

Verdict

Excellent!!!