'Anaganaga Oka Raju' Movie Review

'Anaganaga Oka Raju' Movie Review

Cast: Naveen Polishetty, Meenakshi Chaudhary, Rao Ramesh, Tarak Ponnappa, Chammak Chandra, Mahesh, Master Revanth, and others

Music: Mickey J Meyer

Cinematography: Yuvaraj

Producers: Naga Vamsi, Sai Soujanya

Written by: Naveen Polishetty, Chinmayi Ghatraju

Direction: Maari

Hero Naveen Polishetty has won the hearts of the Telugu audience with movies like Agent Sai Srinivas Athreya, Jati Ratnalu and Miss Shetty Mr Polishetty is back on screen with a short break. This time, he came with Anaganaga Oka Raju, directed by newcomer Maari, and released as a Sankranthi treat. Here’s what the film offers.

Story:

Raju (Naveen Polishetty) hails from a Zamindar family in the Godavari region, who lost most of their wealth. Even though he carries a family name, his life is simple and ordinary. Dreaming of the luxury, Raju believes that the easiest way to change his fate is to marry a rich girl, and finally sets his eyes on Charulatha (Meenkashi Chaudhary), who comes from a nearby village and hails from a Zamindar family. He devises clever plans to impress her, and finally, the lavish wedding takes place. When everything is going well, Raju discovers a shocking truth about Charulatha’s family, and what happens thereafter is the rest of the story.

Narrative and Analysis:

Naveen Polishetty is the kind of actor who could take up a small idea and make it big. All he needs is a character that matches his comic timing and a story with some depth. When that happens, surely he could take the movie’s level to another zone altogether. That too, he has self-experience in writing, and could carve out the roles effectively, suiting his strengths, by being involved in the script. Teaming up with writer Chinmayi Ghatraju, he contributed to Story-Screenplay-Dialogues this time, thus making “Anaganana Oka Raju” perfectly suited to his energy. He has produced lots of fun by slipping into the role of a poor Zamindar who actually fake-flashes his proud vintage lifestyle. With lots of comedy aimed at youths, and then targeting a family audience as well, along with a bit of emotional dose, the film aptly fits the bill as a Sankranthi entertainer.

Reminding of old Telugu adages like “Tinadaniki Tindi Lekapoyina, Meesalaku Sampange Noone”, Naveen’s character is designed around this. Though many have earlier doubted if he could pull off the Godavari accent, Naveen did it with aplomb. Right from the word go, Naveen’s energy flows like waterfalls, and we get connected to his character as Zamindar’s heir. After his marriage plans kick-in, the pace of narration picks up. The way he tries to impress the heroine actually stands out. Along with trend comedy, amazing punch lines and Naveen’s performance, those scenes worked out big time. When everythign is going smooth, we expect a twist at the interval, and when the twist comes, surely it landed effectively, keeping the audience hooked.

Even after the interval, the fun mode of Anaganaga OKa Raju continues as sequences move at an amazing tempo. While the hero thinks his money problems will be solved by marrying a rich girl, he’s pushed into more troubles, thus making the narrative more interesting. To get rid of all the troubles, Raju decides to step into village politics and contest as President. This is where the narrative got slowed down a bit. Scenes give a deja vu feel, flow gets affected and repetitive, while Naveen keeps it entertaining with his acts. But the film takes a turn at the pre-climax level, showcasing an emotional angle. Though the melodrama dominated a bit here, it works out due to Naveen’s engaging performance. But while sending people off to theatres, Naveen packs a bunch of laughs again. The film could be a winner at the Sankranthi box office for its entertaining content, in fact.

Performances:

Naveen Polishetty has this rare ability of pulling the spotlight towards him, no matter how many talented artists surround him. He showed off this potential in Miss Shetty Mr Polishetty earlier, by dominating Anushka. Coming to Anaganaga Oka Raju, the film is a complete one-man show from the actor. With non-stop fun, acting prowess, and energy, he lives up to the tag of ‘Star Entertainer’. Apart from comedy, his emotional, melodramatic acting also impressed this time.

At the same time, heroine Meenakshi Chaudhary left a good impression with her screen presence. She looked glamorous and impressed with acting mettle. Rao Ramesh shines in the small role given. Tarak Ponnappa portrayed a negative role quite well. Chammak Chandra and Mahesh did well in the supporting roles. Sankranthiki Vastunnam fame Revanth (Bulliraju) entertained well.

Technicians:

Anaganaga Oka Raju is aptly supported by an able technical team. Mickey J Meyer stepped away from his usual comfort zone to deliver some energetic songs like ‘Bhimavaram Balam’ that clicked. His background score is effective. Yuvraj’s visuals are beautiful and suit the tone of the story. Sithara Entertainment lived up to its image when it comes to production values. The script written by Naveen and Chinmayi is a major highlight for the film. They did the magic with the screenplay and made sure to churn out comedy organically, and director Maari executed them brilliantly on screen.

Verdict: Anaganaga Oka Raju... A Naveen Polishetty's show!

Rating - 2.75/5