The 'rabhasa', whatever it means, is made by a Mirchi dude with the naughtiness of a Kandireega at some household that needs the apostle's Midas Touch to become a Brindavanam. 'Rabhasa' would have been better off being titled 'Kichdi'.
To begin with, there is a mother who has a dream of her own. At another location, there is a girl who has a dream of her own. Quicky, the hero devastates the dream of a father and the hero with no other dream becomes his enemy. After that, the hero meets the girl with a dream, but they both eventually end up in a household where its mother has a new dream. Meanwhile, the audience's dreams are shattered.
Karthik (NTR) has grown up to be someone who believes that true happiness lies in sharing success with others. Naturally, he is the son of Jayasudha and Nasser. Since Karthik's mother's dream is of less importance than the dreams of others, the writer makes Karthik reveal his flashback and tell us what he has got to do with Dhananjay (Shayaji Shinde) within the first 10 minutes. Karthik's aim is to sweep Dhananjay's daughter Indu (Samantha) off her feet. But the catch is that he not only confuses Bhagyam (Praneetha in a cameo) for Indu, but also Indu is in love with someone else. What follows is a screenplay that reminds us of two or three films in the second half, while keeping Brahmanadam's fans (practically everyone) a little entertained for some time.
Santosh Srinivas's screenplay and dialogues in the first half are lame; the college campus scenes as well as the comedy villains headed by Raghu Babu are simply milk-and-water. The scenes involving NTR, Praneetha and Samantha lack the zing because the scenes are not comedic. The attempt to showcase NTR as a Rama Rao (from Baadshah) without giving attention to the seriousness of the proceedings is unintelligent.
The second half is reasonably managed but all the references that we invariably make renders it discredited. There is Jayaprakash Reddy and his sons who are reduced to buffoons by Karthik. Karthik has to play mind games so as to salvage himself from the danger he is in. Meanwhile, he habitually takes it upon himself to redeem the dreams of another mother.
Brahmandam is victimized by the hero, who successfully makes a 'dummy' of the father and the sons alike. This genre of comedy is not new and Srinivas doesn't chip in with any new ideas to present the old wine in a new bottle.
NTR comes across as a lovable one in the songs, yet again. But when it comes to brilliant cinematography or choreography, the songs are wanting. Thaman's music adds to the sense of deja vu. The BG score passes muster.
Nobody would have expected earth-shaking punchlines to be written by Srinivas. Punchlines are sorely missing altogether. No one can successfully dumb down Samantha like this. She is utter ennui to watch, while Praneetha sparkles in a song.
NTR delivers a decent performance that reminds one of his Brindavanam act, sans any captivating moments. He looks classy in his costumes and massy enough in his act. As for others, JP scores over Shayaji, and Brahmi over everyone else.
Technically, the film looks lavish enough. The cinematography and music could have been better.
Verdict: Snatches of this or that story aside, 'Rabhasa' is more 'rabhasa' and no good 'rasa'.
Rating: 2.25 / 5
Comments