Trivikram Srinivas’ Guntur Kaaram fills in as conclusive evidence that in-structure Mahesh Babu can keep us snared to a 159-minute film without feeling exhausted. Alright, that sounds deluding; we should reword.Mahesh Babu, in first class structure, is the sole reclaiming factor in Trivikram’s superfluously extended Guntur Kaaram, keeping it from turning into a drawn-out watch. That’s right, that sounds more exact.
The greatest and most expected film of this Sankranti/Pongal season, Guntur Kaaram is essentially a festival of Tollywood’s hotshot and everything related with his fame. Trivikram keeps Mahesh Babu up front, never allowing the crowd an opportunity to miss him.
The film starts with a flashback, divulging a dull section from Ramana’s (Mahesh Babu) youth, costing him the two his dad Satyam (Jayaram) and mother Vasundhara (Ramya Krishnan): his dad is imprisoned for homicide and his mom leaves him. While Ramana grows up with his fatherly family in Guntur, his mom gets back to Hyderabad, enters governmental issues at the command of her dad Venkata Swamy (Prakash Raj), and at last turns into the Law Priest.
Years later, with his roots firmly planted in the chilli industry, Ramana oversees a large warehouse in Guntur. After serving his time, Satyam is still confined to his room and rarely interacts with the outside world. In the meantime, Ramana’s family wants to cut all contact with his mother by having him sign a document.
By taking this action, Vasundhara hopes to deprive him of his right to be a legal heir and pass on her political legacy to her son from her second marriage. Ramana is adamant about finding out why Vasundhara abandoned him, even in the face of her icy demeanor. While this is going on, Venkata Swamy uses a variety of strategies to keep Ramana and Vasundhara apart, but he won’t give up.
Without any delay, Trivikram delivers the highly anticipated Mahesh Babu to the audience! He makes his debut shortly after the movie starts, albeit in a mediocre way. The movie has several scenes meant to elicit shouts of “Jai Babu” from Mahesh Babu devotees.
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Despite having the best of intentions, Trivikram falls short of making these scenes give off a thrilling cinematic effect. The scenes are consistently elevated by Babu’s commanding presence and distinctive style. In the purportedly mass moments, Trivikram’s writing falls short, not giving the audiences the anticipated rush of adrenaline.
It soon becomes clear that Mahesh Babu is the only thing adding flavor to an otherwise lifeless and corny Guntur Kaaram. Guntur Kaaram even occasionally makes one feel as though they are watching the director’s previous hit film Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo (2020), especially when it comes to the mother-son dynamics. It almost seems as though Trivikram made the decision to use parts from AVPL that were either omitted or were not able to be included in a new film.
The film mostly consists of Babu’s close-up and mid-shot shots, which can be viewed as a calculated choice considering the narrative’s lack of depth. The scenes with supporting characters, flashbacks, and subplots draw attention to Guntur Kaaram’s story’s emptiness.
Like in a lot of the newer mass productions, the star of Guntur Kaaram pays tribute to his earlier hits in songs and dialogue. But because filmmakers have been using this tactic so openly, it has become a mood killer, and Babu is no different.
Cast of Guntur Kaaram :
Mahesh Babu, Prakash Raj, Sreeleela, Jayaram,Mukesh Rishi, Brahmanandam and Ramya Krishnan
Trailer of Guntur Kaaram
While Trivikram has added a few subtleties to the personality of Ramana, separating him marginally from common mass film legends, the movie gives the feeling that the chief tends to these viewpoints just inconsistently. For example, the disclosure of Ramana’s vision weakness in his left eye is presented from the get-go yet is just returned to during explicit scenes where the legend stunningly requests that others move to the right so he can see them appropriately, suggestive of Vishnuvardhan’s Nagamanikya in Bellary Naga (2009), a change of Mammootty’s Rajamanikyam (2005).
The main effective second in Guntur Kaaram happens towards the end when Ramana participates in a close to home discussion with his mom, summoning a feeling of delight for the crowds as they witness Babu, who encountered the deficiency of his dad, mother and sibling in 2022, share a warm second with his on-screen family.
All of the characters in Guntur Kaaram, including Ramana, are underdeveloped and lack nuance and complexity. Vasundhara comes across as less of a unique character and more of a derivative mix of Tabu’s Yasoda in the AVPL and Ramya’s Rajamatha Sivagami Devi in the Baahubali franchise.
Ramana’s emotions are also not sufficiently explored. The cast, which includes Satyam and Venkata Swamy, Ramana’s aunt Bujji (Easwari Rao), and cousin Raji (Meenakshi Chaudhary), doesn’t leave much of an impact and instead sounds like standard characters from big-budget action movies.
The most underdeveloped character in the story is Amutya (Sreeleela), Ramana’s love interest and the main female lead. She is reduced to nothing more than a gorgeous woman whom the hero frequently objectifies under the pretext of love. As the two lack chemistry on screen, their romance—a typical Manic Pixie Dream Girl—becomes more and more annoying. It’s important to note that Mahesh Babu, 48, and 22-year-old Sreeleela are forced to date in this scene, which gives their on-screen romance an awkward twist.
The conversations, whether they are having with each other or not, also sound manufactured. Through their performances, none of the actors are able to make an impression that lasts.
The movie’s title suggests that it’s as red as Guntur chillies, but Trivikram and colorist Glen Castinho’s extra attempts to add red and brown tones to almost every frame have backfired, creating a boring visual palette that breaks the flow of the film. In addition, Manoj Paramahamsa’s cinematography falls short of the mark, and Navin Nooli’s editing doesn’t really improve the movie.
Even though Thaman S.’s songs are wonderful, especially during the more intense parts, his background score, though powerful, feels a little out of sync with the story and the images. One particularly noteworthy instance takes place near the intermission, when the film’s attempt at a powerful interval punch is undermined by an emotionally charged scene that is ruined by an entirely inappropriate background music.
Not as much as Ram-Lakshman and Vijay’s stunt choreography, but still disappointing, is VJ Sekhar’s choreography, which almost all action sequences seem rushed and don’t connect with the audience.