Ranam Review

Gopichand's movies have never been high on story value but always give you 100 percent entertainment value. His Ranam seems to be no exception. Though the theme of a hero from village taking on a city rowdy has been done to many times, In Ranam is passes muster thanks in the min to Gopichand's strong presence and the suave baddie Biju Menon. The two elevate the drama with their cool prowess. And there is also good glamour in the form of Kamna and some laughable moments through Ali and Venu Madhav. In the event, what you have is nearly two and a half hours of tightly packed mainline masala entertainment.

Chinna (Gopichand) is a fun-loving earthy village man. Unable to stand his antic, his family (primarily father Chandramohan) packs him off to the city for him to pursue higher studies. There his problems begin. As fate would have it, he runs into a couple of toughies belonging to the gang of Bhagavathi (Biju Menon). In the meanwhile, he also develops love for Maheshwari (Kamna jethmalani), who as it happens is the sister of Bhagavathi. The latter wants to eliminate Chinna for obvious reasons. The rest of story is what you know.

As we said, it is not the most original of stories.But Gopichand's masculine presence, along with his uncomplicated style of acting, makes the movie move. Kamna's beauty get a good exposure. Ranam is watchable in most places because of the arresting show of BijuMenon. This import from Kerala comes up with a strong portrayal and gives a typical gangster role a new perspective. Ali and Venu Madhav are okay. Chandramohan gets a good role as Gopi's father.

Mani Sharma's music works within the context of the movie. There is nothing to extol the camera work though the fights are splendid.

Rajasekhar, who has switched over from dance to direction, has played it absolutely safe without resorting to anything novel. Being his first film (as a director) it is understandable. Though the masala is high in certain points, the overall feeling of the dish is palatable.