Is Rachcha (literally a row) a prelude to Zanjeer? Ram Charan Tej does everything that’s expected of him and more in this much-awaited movie. He bashes the bad guys, romances the leading lady and shakes his legs vigorously and with élan, come rain or shine. Funnily enough, he practises his Hindi too. “Raj! Betting Raj! Baatein kam, risks zyaada,” he quips time and again (for perhaps, eight times?) to make sure you heard him right. The film, though, rest assured, is an out and out Telugu mass masala with half-a-dozen fights, songs and itsy-bitsy comic scenes.
Our hero, Betting Raj, is a basthi guy, an underdog and an orphan. But he’s no David Copperfield and so, finds his calling in betting. Yes, as his name suggests, he thrives on the risk factor and lives off betting. A Ghulam-style car race towards a running train pumps up adrenaline levels and introduces the young dare devil to a certain James.
He rushes past the train but tragedy hits the happy go lucky Raj in another form. His drunkard guardian (MS Narayana) gulps down enough for doctors to suggest a liver transplant. Desperate to raise `20 lakh, Raj knocks on the doors of James.
What happens? Of course, James places a bet and a weird one at that. He promises wads of cash if Raj manages to win over a doctor Chaitra (Tamanna Bhatia), who finds more pleasure in practising her dance moves rather than medicine, in 30 days flat. Now, that is luck, not misfortune!
The rest of the story is fairly predictable. Chaitra falls for Raj and discovers that they had been childhood pals. A pleasant surprise. But the catch is...you guessed it right. She’s the ward of a monstrous man called Bellary who plays her guardian only to gobble up her property. The director seems to have lost his path midway through this simple story. The romantic scenes seem contrived. Nonetheless, the music by Manisharma is peppy and Ram Charan’s dance moves are a delight to watch.
Ali and Brahmanandam bring comic relief but fail to sustain the same level of hilarity throughout the movie. It must be said that the director hasn’t experimented much and does make the movie work in a commercial sense.Verdict: Rachcha is a treat for mega star family fans.