Movie: Andhagaadu
Cast: Raj Tarun, Hebah Patel
Director: Veligonda Srinivas
Rating: **
Tollywood by definition has to get all and every ingredient into every script. The film maker (Veligonda Srinivas) has thus a story to tell a script to write and then translate it to a narration which is full of the designer pot holes. Even otherwise authentic outings thus get marred by predictability to a fault.
The state of affairs would suggest, nay scream that our cinema is so template dependant that creativity has long since flown out of the window. Yet again the story line is an attempt to get humour, romance, music, vendetta, and for added value a ghost into the tale. It is RGV making Mujhse Shaadi Karoge.
Our hero Gautam (Raj Tarun) meets heroine Netra (Hebah Patel) an ophthalmologist, falls in love, has the side kick friend Kishore (Satya) for one liners and to make the protagonist heroic in compare. The love story is told to the Ophthalmic surgeon (Aashish Vidyarthi) by Gautham who wants his eye removed.
He is one of a foursome from a Blind School who unlike his friends gets lucky much later but lives to tell the story. The reason he wants his eyes removed and the reason he wants to return to his old dark world, is that he is haunted by a ghost (Rajendra Prasad). The villain in the act is baddie Babji (Raja Ravinder) with a cigar in his lips red eyes and blood thirsty. He is that stereo type villain who is a shame on mankind and available on the Tollywood shelves meant for the pickings.
After the customary songs, minor misunderstandings and the wooing, baddie enters to help change tracks and relieve of the romantic boredom. Alongside and for novelty we also have the ghost enter the narrative. The ghost nudges the blind lover into a focussed avenger.
The initially hesitant Gautam bites the bait with relish and has the wherewithal to deal with armies of baddies, takes the support of prospective pa-in-law Dharma (Shinde) the local police officer to have the evil destroyed. Not before long we also have another template of the hero camping at the heroine’s home to facilitate in house romance and ensure the music director (Shekar Chandra) too makes his living.
With the time allocated for the romance and humour exhausted, our hero turns his attention on avenging the bad guy with hesitation but strength and power. The villain who hitherto has built for himself a huge reputation (however dubious) now falls a prey to the tricks of the new arrival rookie and is wanting not just in morality but also strategy and strength.
The rom com changes into a revenge drama, and to tickle your bones you have the friendly ghost who is designed to tickle the viewer and strengthen the romantic hero in his encounters with evil. The villains are converted to pulp and corpses as the new style credits roll to announce the time for the next set of guinea pigs to walk in.
Despite this all, if the film musters some watching, it is because the audience is so resigned to the state of affairs and also some spirited performances. Raja Ravindra puts in the right amount of sternness but is very unidimensional, but alright given the module he is working under.
Hebah Patel is the hot pant wearing Ophthalmologist you would love the real-life ones to emulate. The film belongs in the midst of all this to Raj Tarun who is sincere and energetic. He is the Andhagaadu who keeps things going and working.
To those who love the predictable formula stuff and are drugged into the heroics of mainstream cinema this is another outing. For the rest, it is a good reason not to brave the heat.