Race Gurram

Race Gurram (Race Gurram) is an entertaining movie, if you enter the auditorium with a clear mindset that you are going to watch a comic film and not a movie which takes itself too seriously. The best part of the movie is it is the first time ever that a major telugu star has underplayed his role in the climax sequences and let comedian Brahamandam take center stage and letting character actor Rajeev Kanakala do something which is unthinkable in a telugu motion picture-nope no spoilers from me sorry.

Ram (Shaam) and Lakshman A.K.A Lucky (Allu Arjun) are brothers whose sibling rivalry is something which would put cain and abel to shame and give them a massive inferiority complex. Ram does everything better and is a successful police officer and Lucky does nothing worthwhile and lives off his brother and parents.

Lucky falls in love with Spandana (Sruthi Hassan-at her best) a girl with a terminator hangover and has a very good control on all emotions. Lucky changes her and makes her a lady version of himself and at this point Ram puts a spoke in their love wheel.

Lucky bays for revenge and does something which causes him to cross paths with Siva Reddy (Ravi Kissen) a rowdy sheeter turned politician. A showdown lands Siva Reddy in a hospital and he vows revenge on Lucky.

Apart from the sibling rivalry and Sruthi Hassan's characterization, the movie has nothing new to offer, but the way the screenplay works its way around the minor nitty gritties is what makes the movie interesting.

Allu Arjun plays the same tried and tested role to perfection and his "DEVUDA!" is good and is used in the right situations. He is excellent in the climax sequences and during the interval bang sequence.

Sruthi Hassan as Spandana is a treat to watch in the first half an hour of the movie-she is amazing in the bank robbery sequence and also gives us a glimpse of her tapori side in the "cinema choopistha mama" song. Shaam does the same boring act for the umpteenth time, sad to see such a good actor being typecast.

Saloni is cute with the telangana accent and gives out a good performance especially in the running sequence with Allu Arjun. Ravi Kissen does the same thing which all tollywood villains have been doing, yell and yell and then drop down dead.

It is Brahamanandam as Kill Bill Pandey who actually steals the show-his scene with Siva Reddy is the best in the mo vie-especially the dig at Prabhas.

Music by Thaman is strangely bad for an Allu Arjun movie, apart from the cinema choopistha song-none of the songs are good on the ears. Direction by Surender Reddy is good, but I wish the screenplay could make up its mind whether it wanted the movie to be an action thriller or a light action comedy.

Watch the movie for the laughs-----just don't take the movie too seriously-just walk in and expect Allu Arjun doing an Allari Naresh and you will love the movie

Flying, rolling (in the air) automobiles? This has it spades, if that kind of thing is your ... thing. Loud, melodramatic leads? Yup, right up there... Songs when there is no need , feeding our common navel-gazing frenzy? Yup. Comedy that works ? Surprisingly, in spades too (and that's what kinda elevates this one over others of its ilk, of which there have been quite a few, and will be many more, judging by the way the audiences are lapping it up). Cases in point - the entire initial 'Inside' track and 'Kill Bill' Pandey.

A good Allu Arjun performance? Standard-order, since he seems to be quite sincere in almost everything that he does.

Also, for the first time, plastic-surgery seems to suit someone.

The bad? Time for the brickbats, since most audiences are too forgiving about everything bad in movies like this.

Let me get the typical ones out of the way. Loud acting, loud clothes, loud situations, loud sets, loud everything - check. An almost unimaginable level of suspension of disbelief - check. Situations and lines that want one to scream 'BS' every time - check. Comedy that's crass, and doesn't work for you, but has your immediate neighbor in splits - double check. Bad, extremely bad CGI, that's being passed off as great CGI since AP is the hub of all things software - triple check. Gory, violent, yet cartoony sequences that keep going on (and on, and on....and, you get my drift) even after you've yawned and yawned and yawned - quadruple check (that's actually true).

Moving on to an atypical grouse - Watching movies like 'Cuckoo' reinforces the perplexing nature of wrong lip-sync in most mainstream Indian movies, esp. those from AP and TN (admittedly, to a relatively lesser extent). All the main characters whose native language is not Telugu lip-sync their lines so badly (not their fault, they're doing it in another language), and I don't know how it is for the rest of us, but it never fails to take me out of the movie every-friggin-time. I want to buy-in to what's going on on screen, but fail whenever I see no lip-sync. Our mainstream audiences are really, really forgiving of their multi-crore offerings, and maybe, just maybe, that's not such a bad thing?

I'd advise you to watch it at the local big screen, but do these guys deserve your money? I'd say no, but you'll not bother. Maybe.

Race Gurram is a good entertainer that makes you feel good when you walk out of the theater. Brahmanandam, Ali, Posani and M.S.Narayana will make sure that you have a good time. Allu Arjun has improved tremendously as an actor and this movie is going to be one of his best commercial hits. The screen play, direction and many other things contributed to this film were fruitful. And Shruthi Hasan in the movie playing the female lead role, never put down the audience, she was fabulous in this film as compared to other films she has acted, trust she was just beautiful in her act. And Allu Arjun has also done a very good job. Fun-filled action thriller it was.

And yeah, it's seriously worth watching! :)

Right from the word go, I was cursing myself for coming to watch this movie. The family sentiment seemed contrived, acting too loud, romance illogical, and the list goes on. But surprisingly, after almost 3 hours, I left the theater satisfied (how is that even possible?).

Scripted and directed by Surender Reddy, Race Gurram starts off just like any other commercial Telugu movie, with phony sequences and loud acting. While the first half seemed dull with mediocre screenplay, Surender manages to pull half the later half exceedingly well. The overall direction though could have been much better.

On acting front, it's more or less a cake walk for Arjun. His body language is superb, and he performs with ease. But what needs mention is one performance: Brahmi a.k.a Kill Bill Pandey, take a bow! He is absolutely entertaining.

Overall, the screenplay in the second half, Bunny's strong screen presence and Bramhi come to the rescue in this mediocre film, and you walk out of the theater satisfied. So just for that, you can give it a watch.

For a detailed review, please visit sasikanth.me :)

After getting flops from their previous works, both the director Surender Reddy and Allu Arjun are actually back with a bang! The narration is very good and though the story line looks very ordinary, the direction took it into another level. Cinematography is a class apart, especially in songs like 'Down down dappa' , 'Cinema Sopistha' and few fight scenes as well, were shot greatly. As the story progresses, it picks up pace and with the entry of Brahmanandam, it goes to a new high. Highlights for the film are Shruthi Hassan's intro and characterization , Arjun's 'Deevuda' expression , Pre-Interval and Climax episodes. Thaman was only good at the catchy BGM which takes off in the Interval and continues till the end. A complete Emotional Family entertainer all the way! Go and grab a ticket, 3 hrs of racy entertainment is assured.