Story of Vijayawada Gang Wars centered on Vangaveeti & Devineni families

Story:

Vangaveeti Radha (Sandeep Kumar) is a small time associate to Chalasani Venkatrathnam, a popular communist leader who used to run riskha stand and also settle disputes in and around Vijayawada area. From a small time associate Vangaveeti Radha raises his popularity and hold among the people. He tries to go on independent by starting his own auto/car stand, an usual adda for collecting money and settling the disputes. As Radha's popularity starts growing among masses Chalasani Venkatrathnam gives him a stern warning, if Ranga wants to live in Vijayawada then he has to work under him and obey his rules. Enraged by the way Radha was treated in that meet with Chalasani Venkatrathnam, people around Radha instigate him to settle scores with Chalasani for good.

To be as an independent leader Radha is compelled to plan the murder of Chalasani Venkatrathnam. Story of the movie and conflicts among groups start with this murder in Vijayawada. Director Varma narrates the rest of the story in parts with his voice over the rise and fall of leaders in Vangaveeti and Devineni families.

Performances:

Sandeep Kumar performed dual role as both Vangaveeti Radha and Vangaveeti Ranga. Director took good care of appearance, voice modulation and performance in that dual role. Sandeep justfied those two characters in the movie. He showed the variation and is convincing in those two characters. Kauilya as Devineni Gandhi performed good, portrayed right emotions when he was part of Vangaveeti Radha's group and also when he goes against Vangaveeti Ranga. Vamsi Chaganti as Devineni Murali is excellent, as an outraged youth who wants to avenge his brother's death. Shrithej as Devineni Nehru justified the role. Naina Ganguly as Vangaveeti Rathna Kumari is OK.

Behind The Screen: Kartha, Karma & Kriya for this movie is RGV. Hit or Flop all credit goes to RGV and RGV only. He is the plus and minus for this movie. I rate him as one of the India's best, brilliant and talented technician who has good command on all the crafts involved in film making. Music & BGM by Ravi Shankar are big let down in many scenes. While watching the movie you feel like you are riding a roller coaster. There is no need for the songs and that too in RGV's voice. Lyrics by Sirasri garu... Nagarjuna garu please eliminate him andi.. please eliminate him :-). Add to this RGV's voice over is also a big minus. When you are eating a good biryani suddenly if you get a stone in the food... how do you feel? That's how I felt when listening to the songs and RGV voice over narration. Do you think a person of RGV caliber doesn't know this? He knows it and that shows how reckless he has become. Having talent is good and not utilizing it to his fullest potential is bad.

From a photography point of view, I was awestruck with some of the frames and shots (single frame) in the first half of the movie. Classic picture frames, be it Radha smoking a cigarette, Radha sitting on a chair listening to people around him... list goes on and on. I will not be surprised if those single frame shots are used as classic posters in future when portraying RGV's film career (in the lines of Amithab's Sarkar picture frame).

Word of caution: There is too much of violence and blood in many many scenes. Not that I did not expect... but leaving a word of caution :-)

Commercial Analysis:

Movie is BRILLIANT in bits and parts ONLY. First half is engaging and goes at a pace. In the second half, scenes leading to the murders of Murali & Ranga felt drag. I did not understand RGV's point of view on Ranga's murder. Looks like he compromised on his version and created some ambiguity on the people involved in the Ranga's murder. Lot of people know some parts of Vangaveeti & Devineni family conflicts... it's the ending murder mystery is what people may be looking for to get Director's view on the sequence of events and people involved in it. There is a famous dialog by M.S. Narayana garu in 'Athadu' movie:

jyothilakshmi dance chesinattu... vidipinchi vidipinchakunda, kanipinchi kanipinchakunda, chupinchi chupinchakunda chesesindi evaru?....

I felt the same when stepping out of the movie. Except for few brilliant shots nothing special about the movie. Movie run will depend on how audience connect to those FEW brilliant parts and ignore the rest of the scrap.

Rating: 2.75/5

- Raghu Chitturi