Predictable but watchable

• Tittle :Rowdy Fellow
• Cast :Nara Rohit, Vishakha Singh and Rao Ramesh
• Direction :Krishna Chaitanya
• Genre :Action-drama
• Rating :**1/2
• Like :Sincere
• Unlike :Predictable

This Sambhavame Friday Friday incarnation of the larger than life is getting thick. The magical heroics of the protagonist is perhaps designed to satiate and lull the laity who lap such scripts and find psychological atonement to the surrounding social disorder. We celebrate violence in its grotesque grandeur. Our filmmakers rake in the moolah without having to strain their imaginative juices. Like many other aspects of our psyche, we hero worship a central persona in lieu of seeing social disorder as a larger picture.

We have Rana Pratap Jaidev (Nara Rohit) who is the angry young man on the prowl. He returns from the US with his money bag in place and heads straight to a pub to make pulp of a guy who caught by his collar many years ago. He is vengeful, indiscreet, rich and brawny. His character created, he next picks up a row with the SP Parameshwar (Aahuti Prasad).

To wreak vendetta he pays his way to join the police, for with the assistance of Prithvi. Soon he is in Rajollu. Drawing his attention is the lass with adventure Megha Vishakha Singh) who is none other than the warring SP’s daughter. While love woos gently, revenge shouts loud and our hero is adept with both with consummate ease.

Soon the story shifts to the Kolleru Lake and the violence surrounding it. It shows how a journalist has been killed leaving behind his dad (Gollapudi Maruthi Rao) and a little daughter. Controlling the mafia there is Durga Prasad (Rao Ramesh) who hopes to get a cabinet berth. His chances are jeopardised with the local revolt and hence he trains his guns and his men including his brother-in-law Ajay against the villagers and of course Rana Pratap.

With romance reduced to a minuscule interlude, the story of politics and revenge takes centre stage – more a demonstration on how the new angry young man gets the better of the system and its evil forces. Over time the narration gets predictable and yawn-filled.

There are two contextual issues to be addressed. At the level of entertainment it is self-defeatist when a creative artist borrows heavily from others –nay just imposes templates and seeks a place in the space of creativity. At the social level it is disturbing to find such brazen sale of violence as the alternative. While defiance and revolt are fine the entire body of work seem to make change a personal contribution by a seemingly fictional messiah. The crowds lap it with fun and leave with an aggregate satisfaction that all is well. It is not.

Rao Ramesh stands out as the villain. He gets a long role and has slowly worked his way to being the principal villain. He eschews needless mannerisms and sticks to a plan. Ajay is caricature. Gollapudi Maruthi Rao and Rameshwari Talluri are wasted. Posani Krishna Murali as Silk Babu gives you his trademark humour. Nara Rohit is obviously from a well fed background. He has things going his way and it is visible.

At a time when actors are concentrating on six pack bodies, he is the one who could say: chubby cheeks, rosy lips….. He has the talent but would soon outgrow the role of a mainstream hero if he does not keep his expanse in check. ‘Rowdy Fellow’ could have been far better if the filmmaker Krishna Chaitanya gave it some punch and ensured it was edited.

Aravindan Gandhi gives the film some fine moments with his cinematography. Watch if anarchy is your idea of entertainment or even if you think it is the solution.