Ranabaali Movie Review

Movie Review: 'Ranabaali'

Vijay Deverakonda and Rashmika Mandanna are back together on the big screen after a long gap. They have come together for their latest pre-independence action film Ranabaali, which released in theatres today.

Story: Set in the 1880s and early 1900 period, this film deals with the pre-independence British rule in India. It essentially revolves around the great famine in the Rayalaseema region under the Madras regime that was brutally ruled by the British.

While the famine and hunger is already killing lakhs of people in the region, British boss, Hector is here on the mission to take away, agricultural produce and financial resources. But he is stopped by a rebellious masculine Ranabaali who becomes an inspiration for Indians to fight back at the British. The confrontation between the two of them marks the rest of the story.

Analysis: For instance, we have the case of Jailer 2 which released yesterday. This film had virtually not much story associated with it. It was a film that depended on style over substance and it worked in its favor thanks to strong commercial packaging.

But in the case of Ranabaali today, the situation is the exact opposite. This film had a strong emotional story regarding the great famine that killed lakhs of Indians in the British rule. The hunger death aspect is an emotionally strong one.

But at the end of the day, a cinematic experience requires dramatisation and commercial packaging, and this is precisely where Ranabaali falls behind. Director Rahul has placed more importance on giving this film and artistic vibe than adding the required commercial aspect.

Scenes that require commercial highs including the first scene where Vijay’s character kills a British end up flat due to weak narrative hold and inadequate background score. Another sequence where the British are tied up by Seema people and chilli powder is rubbed on them is executed without might. It just goes away like that.

A strong commercial film requires adequate holding of the emotion and Rahul does not get this metre right. There is more of a documentary vibe to this narrative than a proper Telugu commercial film vibe.

But the romantic track between the lead pair of Vijay and Rashmika has been handled fairly well. This real life couple brought emotional core to the film through their realistic portray of wife and husband on screen. As long as Rashmika and Vijay are together on screen, there is something good happening.

The interval sequence is solid enough, but this momentum is not carried in the second half as predictable narrative leads towards the climax. The final portion of the film is emotionally gripping, but the energy is drained out already.

The production values are extraordinary as the set pieces look very grand and believable. The cinematography is also on point as the visuals look extremely appealing to the eye.

But the main culprit is the background score that was composed by Ajay and Atul. There is literally no energy that is infused into the big screen through the musical department, and this is a big letdown. The experience could have been significantly better with a more pulsating background score.

Performances: Vijay Devarakonda has evidently put up a lot of hard work for this film as he underwent a significant physical transformation. His hard work is clearly seen on the big screen, and he got his diction also on point. But this hard work is wasted due to the poor narrative structure.

Rashmika Mandanna is beautiful on screen and pairing with Vijay is expectedly good. Hollywood Mummy fame Voslo is good but his character doesn’t have the needed depth. Lal, Eshwari Rao and others did justice to their characters.

Technical Department:

Mythri Movie Makers have clearly spent a lot of money on this project and the richness is seen in many frames. But the lavish expenditure on the action set pieces doesn’t reflect due to the lack of emotional core.

Cinematography by Nirav Shah and Jishnu Bhattacharjee is brilliant as some of the frames look poetic on screen. But the background scored by Ajay and Atul is the biggest minus of this film. Several scenes which could have been farmer impactful were undone by their weak work.

Final Word: Ranabaali is an ambitious attempt at presenting a historic event in a grand manner but lack of adequate emotional depth has undone the good work of Vijay.

Rating: 2.5/5