Sometimes, a film is taken over by an actor; in this case, it isn’t Ram that we’re going ga-ga over but Prakash Raj, and predictably so. Of course, we also confess that he does go over the top, but it is alluring to watch his character paint a morbidly beautiful picture of mania — where vile intentions seep through calculated expression.
The first half of the film jots down interesting characters; the bull… as in Whiteu (Ram) is your quintessential know-it-all and do-it-all guy with a fresh coat of ‘mass’. He has got it all — ‘punch dialogues’, one-liners and of course the attitude. He sets foot into Ongole as a child with one goal — to become the biggest trader and eventually own the marketplace. Whiteu manages to impress Adikesavulu (Prakash Raj), the chairman of the market where farmers trade their produce. Adikesavulu is a munificent man, only by appearance; he in fact is flagitious to the last grain. As the plot thickens, so does the friction between Adikesavulu and Whiteu who has his eye on the pie — to become the chairman of the marketplace. Adikesavulu struggles with the duality of his character — one that is ‘powder smooth’ from the outside and rotten from within. Whiteu keeps trumping Adikesavulu with moves like getting himself nominated as the chairman through the local MLA (Ahuti Prasad) who wants to shift the marketplace elsewhere; and when that fails, manipulates Adikesavulu into letting him marry his daughter (Kriti Kharbanda). It’s all fun and games so far but there is more to the story than meets the eye. Whiteu is the son of Narayana (Prabhu) who was once the chairman of the marketplace, but was overthrown by Adikesavulu and his allies, who falsely accused him of murders. Whiteu wants to clear his father’s good name and this was in fact the reason why he stepped foot into Ongole. What follows is a story of seeking revenge in a way that makes people realise the true nature of Adikesavulu.
In more ways than one, it’s your regular weekend film, bits and pieces of comedy, heroines who have no other goals but to marry a software engineer and live abroad, ‘masala’ actors with a hero complex, songs that bear no impact on the film’s story, but in all that you get to see a glimpse of a narrative that seeks to explore the decadent capability of a mind in the form of Adikesavulu.
There is a scene where Adikesavulu explains how he stomachs being good is by going home and stripping down and watching himself, in those brief moments you can see the point where the depravity hits a home-run.
Even in the end, Adikesavulu would much rather pretend to be crazy than be hated; it is that hint of narcissism that adds novelty to the film.
ONGOLE GITTA
Genre: Masala pot-boiler
Cast: Ram, Prakash Raj, Kriti Kharbanda, Prabhu
Director: Bhaskar
Plot: A revenge saga with shades of grey
Bottomline: If you have nothing lined up for the weekend, consider hitting the theatres
