Ramabanam Movie review: An outdated routine arrow

The long-awaited collaboration of Gopichand, Jagapathi Babu and Director Sriwass has finally come to fruition in the form of their latest family and action entertainer “Rama Banam.” The film got huge response for their trailers and songs registering as a proper commercial film. The film makes it way to the theatres and let’s see how it performs at box-office.

Story

Vicky (Gopichand) runs away from his home, challenging his brother that he would become rich. He reaches Kolkata and becomes a big don. However, love for Bhairavi changes his life as he has to return to his brother Rajaram (Jagapathi Babu). What happens when Vicky returns to his brother’s family? The movie’s main plot is about the troubles and how he overcomes them.

Analysis

Anyone who has seen “Ramabanam” trailer knows what they are getting into. Sriwass delivers what he promised, which is evident from the first frame. Right from the start, Ramabanam carries an outdated vibe. The establishment of the movie’s world, the characters, and everything screams and reminds us of commercial films that ruled the roost more than a decade ago.

Sriwass himself has made his career out of such flicks. But the formula doesn’t work here. The lack of updation in presenting the familiar story is the first and foremost issue with “Ramabanam.” Many outdated mass stories are made even now, but an attempt is there to freshen up the presentation. Be it comedy or the setting, or the mass confrontations, some change is brought for those routine mass fares. We do not see that here with “Ramabanam,” even though there is a backdrop that provides the scope.

“Ramabanam” just goes through the proceedings ticking all the formulaic boxes. The grand introduction, the flimsy love story, a huge family drama setup and the villains for the action are all present and do the required diligently. But, the emotions are never felt.

The second half provides the opportunity to freshen up the proceedings with the whole food-related track. But, the screenplay again veers into the outdated terrain. It all leads to a heavy climax where a message is delivered at the end. The ‘message’ is good and timely, which makes one wonder what would have been if the movie had been made more contemporarily.

Overall, “Ramabanam” has a relevant message at the end but offers nothing new content-wise as well as presentation-wise. It is a routine mass fare that is as routine as it comes making it hard for even die-hard mass movie lovers to sit through.

Performances

“Ramabanam” is a bread-and-butter kind of role for Gopichand. He has done many such parts in the past and also goes about the process clinically here. The actor gets to do action, comedy, romance and drama, and he is all right in them. However, at the end of the day, it is just another part for him that is far from memorable.

Dimple Hayathi plays a typical commercial heroine role mainly used for glamour. She looks fine in the songs, but there is hardly anything that registers her as a performer. Jagapathi Babu and Kushboo are the leading, supporting roles in the movie besides Gopichand. The former gets a good-hearted but melodramatic elder brother role. He does it with sincerity even though, at times, it looks like going a bit overboard. Kushboo is fine as the motherly figure with the right emotions on display. Many comedians like Ali, Vennela Kishore, Sathya, and Getup Seenu are part of the narrative. They do their bits from time to time but really stand out. Nasser, Subhalekha Sudhakar, Sachin Khedekar are wasted in routine and inconsequential roles.

Technicalities

Sriwass directs Ramabanam. His last outing was Sakshyam which came way back in 2018. For Ramabanam, the director picks a routine mass family entertainer on his return. Sriwass has attempted similar mass fare in the past and got them mostly right. It was long ago, and it seems that the director is also struck there in his approach.

If there was a movie where a music director looked like a complete misfit, it must be “Ramabanam,” with Mickey J Mayer providing the music. He has done a few mass fares in the past, but they always looked like he was trying hard. Here he doesn’t do even that. “Ramabanam” is one of the easily forgotten albums coming from the musician. Vetri Palanisamy’s visuals, too, bear a strong outdated mark. The colour scheme has an air of artificiality around it. The editing is neat. Prawin Pudi gives the right cuts and keeps things moving forward, notwithstanding the utter predictability on offer. The production values are good and the dialogues are run-of-the-mill.

Advantages

Casting

Climax message

Drawbacks

Story

Outdated direction & comedy