Indian cinema has had several brooding, emotional roller coasters built around protagonists with some form of disability. Occasionally, there are those sunshine narratives where characters with cheery dispositions rise above their limitations. Writer-director Anil Ravipudi veers towards the latter, but presents his story in a Telugu mass masala style. Both he and Ravi Teja seemed to have had fun making the film, which is why some of the inane humour works.
Raja’s (Ravi Teja) introduction scene has him jump out of bed with his arms positioned like a God offering blessings. He’s the saviour for Lucky or Lakshmi (Mehreen), whose father (Prakash Raj as a cop) is brutally killed by Devaraj (Vivan Bhatena).
The fact that Raja is blind is not his problem; he makes it the opponent’s problem. A kabaddi episode establishes what he’s capable of with his heightened sensory perceptions, even when the rival team tries to confuse him.
Anil Ravipudi gives his actors signature lines. ‘ Devudini adigesanu (I’ve asked God)’ Prakash Raj says on several occasions, Vivan Bhatena harps ‘ Nenokka adbhutham (I’m a wonder) even if no one cares and his ‘bless me daddy’ to Tanikella Bharani is such a sham. Ravi Teja and Srinivas Reddy break into a sing-song ‘It’s no smoking time, laughing time, break time, end credits time…’
Within this masala format, there’s some practicality with which the mother-son bond between Radhika and Ravi Teja is dealt with. Radhika’s backstory of why her son is indebted to Prakash Raj is only incidental. She would have goaded Raja to save the slain cop’s daughter anyway, to realise her dream of seeing her son rise in the police force.
At no point does the film take itself seriously and neither do we. So when Sampath Raj, as an inspector general, sends his men to Darjeeling to protect Lucky, exaggerated comic characters pop up at every step — Rajendra Prasad who wants to commit suicide, his eccentric mother whose voracious reading has become a bane to the family… and after a point, the villain is also a caricature. Ravi Teja carries off his part in his poker-faced style and Mehreen makes an impression. In his limited role, Srinivas Reddy adds to the fun.
The silly humour keeps the momentum going for a while but the gags become one too many. The segment involving Posani and his family is a drag.
When the hero uses Google to navigate the city and hitchhikes a water tanker, it’s fun. But when he does that with a train, it takes things too far. All through that sequence one wonders why the goons in the cars don’t take a different route.
The end seems near, or so we think, during a power shutdown episode in a godown. But how can a hero use wit and tact and not brawn to win, the filmmaker thinks. So there’s a yawn-inducing second climax. Oh wait, the team isn’t done yet. There’s a hint of part two in the offing.
Raja The Great
Cast : Ravi Teja, Mehreen Pirzada, Vivan Bhatena
Direction : Anil Ravipudi
Story line : An action comedy where a blind protagonist saves a damsel in distress.
