Ra Ra Krishnayya - Remake saying ra ra..

Tollywood is back with a mischievous bang - by "unofficially" 'freemaking' 'Tere Naal Love Ho Gaya', which was itself an "unauthorized" adaptation of a Danny Boyle rom-com. Had 'Ra Ra Krishnayya' managed to acquire for itself some semblance of originality, it might have been worthy of an iota of praise. For all the technical quality and the interesting screenplay that this film boasts of, however, the fact that it is an uncreative remake robs it off all sheen.

To the extent that the makers have chosen a movie that can sell in South India, they deserve a grudging pat on the back. The film has got all those elements - like a sometimes naughty, sometimes saccharine girl, a hero who is honest to the backbone and wants to carve out an identity that is in contradistinction to that of his brother, a plot that allows scope for a twist at the right time, and a set of characters who typify a range of characterizations.

Kittu (Sudeep Kishan) is a hardworking youngster who wants to make it big by owning a travel agency of his own. The unsuspecting Kittu blindly trusting his boss (Tanikella Bharani as a Tamilian) keeps his savings with him. Around the time his jealous and wicked boss shows his true colours, Nandiswari (Regina) is exasperated to the extent of moving out of her father's life. The father is none other than Tanikella himself. Wanting to get his money back by hook or crook, Kittu ends up kidnapping Nandiswari quite unplanned in a nocturnal twist. This leads to a raft of tricky situations, for the simple reason that the kidnapped girl enjoys her being kidnapped while the kidnapper is disturbed inside. The first half throws up a surprise as it culminates in Babjee kidnapping Nandiswari. What follows is more in the nature of melodrama and madcap comedy, complete with the girl mischievously laying a claim on a reluctant hero, funny scenes involving buffoon dons, among others.

'Ra Ra Krishnayya's biggest strength is that it is a well-written film with all the essential ingredients in right proportions. However, two drawbacks are quite glaring: the lead pair don't exactly strike a spectacular rapport (it's Regina who sparkles and sizzles while Sudeep almost stops registering his presence in our mind after a point), secondly, after Nandiswari starts feeling love in Kittu's household, the film continues on predictable lines.

Be it in the texture or the kind of characters and even dialogues, one can clearly see the imprint of Bollywood. Even so, while the story has a South Indian flavour the intelligent treatment has that Bolly quality. Kittu's character is unique in that he is both guilty of having accidentally kidnapped someone, going against his grain. The inner conflict is brought out well. The contrast with Jagapathi's character is equally well showcased. While the scenes between Kittu and Nandiswari form the first half's raison d' etre, the second half becomes wider in canvas, bringing in Ravi Babu in the role of an idiotic don. The sidekicks Venu and Duvvasi Mohan draw some laughs. Ravi Babu hallucinating his father's presence (Chalapathi Rao plays the dead but alive dad) is good. Tagubothu Ramesh and Sathyam Rajesh elicit laughs.

After his scorching presence in 'Legend', Jagapthi pulls off a negative role rather effortlessly. He doesn't have to shout at the top of his lungs, for he is seen spouting goodie-goodie dialogues for most part. The transformation is abrupt, underlining the genre.

The songs are well-placed but none of them excites for the reason that the lead pair have not got in them to lend grace to them. The BGM is good. The cinematography is adept.

Sudeep needs to change his style or risk becoming irrelevant. Regina is just about ok and comparing her with Genelia would be a blasphemy.

Verdict: An uncreative remake, it's watchable once if you haven't seen the original.

Rating: 2.5/5