There is no success mantra for movies but some of them definitely fall into a safe zone because directors weave their stories with a certain length and breadth. If a particular parody, fight or an interval scene works big time, we can be sure of seeing something similar in another movie the very next Friday. The writers and directors these days like school children draw columns and allot each one to an intro scene of the hero, comedy, fight, song and dance and are scared to move away from the formula. They cannot afford to take a risk when an actor like Ravi Teja has given six consecutive duds. This star film’s weight tilts towards Brahmanandam’s shoulders again. It is for the trade pundits to decide if Balupu is a hit or a turkey at the BO, but the crores invested on the film surely doesn’t have an attention-seeking script. If one is asked to compare Balupu with Ravi Teja’s recent films, this one is slightly better but that is because we tend to look at a film as an improvement but not as an overall success.
Ravi Teja shows his trademark consistency as he exudes energy but the steam is clearly missing. There are some dialogues which make you smile. Sample this: Illu kaalithe fire engine vosthundi vollu kalithe ambulance vosthundi, nee karma kaalithe nenosthaanu”, “Nenu casual ga kodithe casuality ki velthavu, adhe concentrate chesi kodithe coma loki velthavu,” “Ye fear lenodu endhulonaina interfere avuthadu”, “mokkani penchuko needanisthundi kukkani penchuko thodisthundi pagani penchukoku pranam teesthundi The only two aspects in the film worth talking about is Brahmanandam and the twist that arrives in the story just before the break. The story appears to have has been written just for the twist and the comedian enjoys himself being the character. Dressed in bermudas and a Tee shirt that is just enough to cover his pot belly, he has a whale of a time breaking into the Gangnam style dance and texting sweet nothings and requests for gifts to Ravi (Ravi Teja) on behalf of Sruthi (Sruthi Hassan) the heroine. He seriously does a good job of the jig. Sruthi Hassan strictly fulfils the glamour quotient and Lakshmi Rai makes a refreshing appearance, Ali as a psychiatrist hasn’t been used well. Anjali is okay, no great variation in her character from what we saw in her last film. The awkwardness on Prakash Raj’s face is visible as he flits from one role to another.
Sruthi and her uncle Crazy Mohan (Brahmanandam) spend time fooling around, eating and taking unsuspecting youth for a ride. She is engaged to Rohit (Adivi Sesh) but Sruthi wants to marry Ravi (Ravi Teja). An enraged Rohit’s uncle played by Ashutosh Rana storms in and is shocked to see one time sworn enemies Ravi and Prakash Raj (Mohan Rao) enacting the role of a son and a father. Taman seems to have mixed the tunes of all his flop films, cinematography is rich and it is an archaic strategy to woo the fans of a popular star for getting attention and here Pawan Kalyan’s footage and his reference is used to give the audiences a good time. Some came out smiling and others had an expression that was as bad as the Uttarakhand victims...
BALUPU
Cast: Ravi Teja, Sruti Hassan and Anjali
Director: Gopichand Malineni
Music: Thaman
Genre: Action entertainer
Plot: A daughter’s death forces a settlement king to give up violence
Bottomline: The title is apt for all filmmakers who believe in the success of such routine stories.
