Badrinath Review

Allu Aravind who made blockbuster films like Magadheera spending crores of rupees on his nephew Ramcharan, set out to produce an equally big budget movie with his own son Allu Arjun as the hero. With V V Vinayak as the director and Tamannah as the heroine, expectations were sky high on 'Badrinath'. Set with the temple town as the backdrop, the movie was a love and action thriller. We watched this movie on the first day and this is what we think of the film.....

Story

Bheeshma Narayana(Prakash Raj) is a martial arts and spiritual guru in Takshasila who is commissioned by Sadhus to train a few kids in martial arts. They want those kids to grow up and become 'Kshetra Palakas'(those who safeguard the temple). Bheeshma trains a group of kids but his favourite amongst them all is Badri(Allu Arjun). He excels in martial arts and on mastering his training, he gets to become the temple guard of Badrinath Maha Vishnu temple. Meanwhile, Alakananda(Tamannah) comes to Badrinath with her grandfather. She doesn't believe in god. Badri challenges that he will make her a devotee of Lord in a week's time. He also helps her in offering 'Pinda Pradanam' to her parents and moved by his act, she falls in love with him. She however doesn't convey the same to him. Her grandfather reveals her past to Badri. Her aunt married a goon called Sarkar(Kelly Dorjee) and that once Alakananda had humiliated her aunt. Her aunt now wants Alakananda as her daughter in law. Badri promises Alakananda's grandpa that he will save her. Meanwhile, Bheeshma wants to make Badri as the head of Takshasila after him. But for that, he has to remain a bachelor all his life. The rest of the story is on how Sarkar targets Alakananda and whether Badri fulfills the promise he made to his Guru Bheeshma.

Performances

Allu Arjun was in his usual form with nothing great to mention about. More than his acting skills, his dance was impressive. He left the audience wondering how he managed to pull off a few tricky moves on the dance floor. His body is flexible and he is seen dancing with ease. However, he needs to better his Telugu diction and dialogue modulation. He opens his mouth a bit too much while rendering his dialogues which looks awkard.

Tamannah did a decent job though there was limited scope for her to perform. Her expressions were apt and timely. However, in this movie, she gave importance to flaunt her body than her acting skills.

Prakash Raj puts up a decent act in the role of Allu Arjun's Guru. Raghubabu steals the show with his punch dialogues despite a super short screen time.

Bramhanandam, M S Narayana and Krishna Bhagawan as so silly in their comic acts that you would seriously consider walking out of the theatre. They repeated their 'Tenali' act from Indra in this movie and it was super annoying. Child comedian Bharath was a waste of time. Kelly Dorjee was cliched and boring. But most of the fight scnes have been censored and there is a white patch on the screen where cuts have been reccomended. This distracts the audience.

Clap worthy moments

The first scene in the movie where the threat to temples is shown in a caricature form is interesting and creative. Allu Arjun shows off his six pack body and it is in tandem with his charecter of a warrior. His training of martial arts in Vietnaam reflects in his stunts and fights. His costumes are well designed. Though the songs are wrongly timed and unnecessary, audience put up with them because of Allu Arjun's dance and Tamannah's skin show. The sets erected by Anand Sai look authentic and grand. The temple and its surroundings surely look as true as Badrinath's temple is. Raghubabu's one liners are funny and left the audience in splits. For instance he says, 'Illu Image Hospital Chesi Poyadu', ' Vaadu Vachi Kotti Velladu.Oka 25 Jaipur Kaalu Pampinchandi' sound hilarious. It is tough to blink your eye as Tamannah flaunts her midriff in all the scenes. Her beauty is a galaxy times enhanced in the song 'Nachchavura'. The money spent on making this film is clearly visible in every frame. The background score for this movie is awesome and was used at right places.

Cringe worthy moments

The story of a temple saviour rings a bell. Yes, haven't we watched NTR Junior play the guard of a temple in Shakti? Or haven't we endured Siddharth as Dheera in 'Anaganaga Oo Dheerudu'? Even a person with a less than a quarter brain will predict the story. Keeravani's music in this film doesn't have a repeat value and gives you a feeling of deja vu. While the villains are shooting bullets at Allu Arjun, he escapes them all and kills them with his sword!! Voila, super hero no??But what is new about it? Kelly Dorjee comes to Tamannah's house and kills her grandfather.Are we living in an animalistic society? Where were the cops? Allu Arjun comes to Bellary railway station and kills hundreds of goons with his sword in the station and takes his heroine back to Badrinath. Chinni Krishna Krishna!!! Bunny jumps from one hill to the other. Hey I thought Hrithik already did this in Krish no? The best of all is Tamannah falls in love with Allu Arjun because he does Pinda Pradhanam for her parents. This will make you want to jump from Badrinath's mountain cliff. Bramhanandam surely wants to complete acting in 1,000 movies and create another record. Otherwise, an actor of his stature wouldn't do such a stupid role. Not a single song has a lead. The 'Iki Tara Iki Tara' track is completely in English. We don't know what to say. It just took Tamannah to look at Allu Arjun with 'love' for a song to start playing. There was a collective uproar and sense of dismay among the audience as songs came by one after the other with no relevance to the story. You don't know where to look when Kelly Dorjee's wife says, "Naaku Chinnapati Nunchi Rowdyism Ante Istam.Anduke Ninnu Chesunkunna'. Though Allu Arjun's dancing skills are excellent, it appeared as if he wanted to show himself as a great dancer and hence the songs. 'Om Kareswara' song wasn't well choreographed. There is a scene where Kelly Dorjee and his men come to Badrinath in Toyota cars all the way from AP. It takes the testing levels of patience to an all new level. The climax of the movie is pale and the screenplay is weak. The VFX used to show clouds, heroine plunging into the river and helicopter shots look fake.

Verdict

There is nothing new or great about this film. It is a very predictable story with nothing noteworthy to mention about. An average film.

Released on: 10th June, 2011