BOTTOM LINE
Yet Another One-Man Show
OUR RATING
2.5/5
CENSOR
U/A Certified, 2 hrs 29 mins.
What is the film about?
Katamarayudu (Pawan Kalyan) is the most powerful guy in his village. He has four brothers and is unmarried. How he falls in love and what happens afterward is what the movie is all about.
How is Pawan Kalyan’s performance?
It might be repetitive saying the same thing again and again, but Katamarayudu is another instance of one-man-show by Pawan Kalyan. When one gets out of the cinema hall, no one else apart from Pawan Kalyan comes to memory. Such is the star’s presence and his unique performance. He is superb in fights and comedy. However, he needs to check his styling and take care of looks in dances. The second song in foreign was terrible, and it’s high time he avoids such glaring mistakes.
Direction By Kishore Kumar?
Dolly has directed three films so far, and they all have been average fares. He surely knows the craft and how to execute a subject. The problem with him is a lack of any individual mark or distinct style that could make a film get noticed for his directorial capabilities.
The first half of Katamarayudu is a nice blend of fresh and recreated scenes from the original. They all gel well and one gets glued to the proceedings. The songs are neatly placed, and the comedy is integrated into narrative nicely. There is nothing vulgar which is always a plus. These elements make the movie watchable despite a very routine and predictable story at hand.
The problem lies in the second half where there are less entertainment and more action and drama. Since the story is predictable, both the action and drama appear lengthy and tedious. They have been neatly done and shot, but the freshness is missing. The songs further escalate the miserable mood. The climax is very lengthy and gets monotonous after a point. Overall second half dilutes the confident first half making Katamarayudu an average fare in the end.
Shruti Haasan and others?
Shruti Haasan is given a village belle look for her character. She pulls it off well. The glamor aspect is only for the songs. Shiva Balaji, Ajay, Chaitanya and Kamal Kamaraju are well cast as brothers. They are in the movie just for comedy support and have nothing else to do. Ali after a long time gets a good comedy role and he does his part well without resorting to any innuendoes. Pruthvi has got a role that has Brahmanandam written all over it. He is fine. Rao Ramesh’s characterization is hilarious, and he has done an equally good job. Nassar is alright. Pradeep Rawat and Tarun Arora are okay.
Music and other departments?
Music by Anup Rubens was passable as a standalone audio. On the big screens couple of songs are good. However, the two songs in the second half are just terrible on screen. The background score is unimpressive. The cinematography is solid, and editing is sharp. Dialogues are good throughout without too much rhyming. The choreography of songs, especially in the second half should have been a lot better. Fights are alright overall with the second one standing out. VFX used in the background are clearly recognizable at places and are bad.
Highlights?
Pawan Kalyan
First half
Entertainment
Drawbacks?
Routine Story
Lengthy climax
Music
Alternative Take
One good entertaining block, two chartbuster songs is a must for a routine clichéd content movie.
Did I enjoy it?
Yes, in parts.
Will you recommend it?
With huge reservations.
Katamarayudu Review by Siddartha Toleti
– Katamarayudu at the end is just a routine average film. Better second half could have helped. Watch out for our review.
– Same old climax and movie comes to an end.
– Second half running on a predictable note with not much humor.
– Anup Rubens has got a big opportunity after Gopala Gopala with commercial movie Katamarayudu. But his songs and BGM disappoints big time.
– Ajith,Shiva Balaji, Chaitnaya and Kamal Kamaraju acted as Katamarayudu’s brothers are good. They suited well for their roles but there is no domination among them. Especially as brothers their age looked like a perfect match to Pawan Kalyan.
– Rao Ramesh and Pradeep Rawat scenes work for comedy though there is no logic in why a rich guy like Pradeep Rawat hangs out with Rao Ramesh.
– 30 years industry gets a brief role. His role could have been more lengthier.
– First song shot in foreign comes in the beginning of second of half is not good both visually and music wise. Especially in few shots Pawan’s styling looks bad in blazers and twirled mustache.
– Nassar is good as Avanthika’s (Shruthi Haasan) father. He plays judge role.
–
First Half Report:
Decent first half with clean family entertainment with regular action blocks in between. Feels slow at times but overall it’s a decent watch so far.
– ‘Laage Laage’ song has been choreographed well. Nice to see Pawan dancing.
– Rayudu’s fight in white and white will bring high for Pawan fans.
– Pawam’s folk song dance episode will appeal to his fans.
– Shruthi Haasan as Avanthika looks great.
– Ali’s comedy track with Katamarayudu’s brothers is good so far.
– Fist and title song is just okay, doesn’t disappoint at the same time.
– First fight choreographed very well.
– Show started. Katamarayudu’s simple entry scene elevated very well by Anup’s excellent BGM.
US Premiers: Katamarayudu premier collections will not be revealed as per sources. The way US distributor set the release date in Rentrak both Thursday and Friday numbers will be reported as day one figures.
Katamarayudu Preview; Live updates will begin at 3.30 AM IST.
Pawan Kalyan is the peak of his career has also been going through a lean patch as his last project, Sardaar Gabbar Singh was a huge disappointment. Whatever might be the result, Pawan was very clear when he said that he is only doing films so that he can earn some good bucks to support his political party.
So, in this order, he decided to play a safe game and chose Katamarayudu, originally Veeram the film he would remake. For the first time, Pawan would be playing a mature role in this film where he will have four younger siblings.
The Tamil film had Ajith and was a good success in Tamil Nadu. So, as Pawan promised director Dolly and Anup Rubens that he will surely work with them after Gopala Gopala, he confirmed them for this films as well.
The filming was completed on a brisk pace and this time around, Pawan’s lucky mascot, Shruthi Haasan has been chosen once again as the heroine. The buzz for the film was quite good right from the beginning as Pawan was seen in a traditional look and his chemistry with Shruthi in the posters was quite good.
Business wise too, the film has been sold for some whopping amounts in both overseas and India. Several fan shows are being planned for this film and massive premieres have been planned all over the US.
If the film does well, the trade pundits are expecting some good collections at the box office. Pawan’s fans are expecting at least 100 crores for this emotional family drama which deals with family values and brotherly love.
Will this film get those said collections, Will Pawan Kalyan get a much-needed hit, you need to wait a little longer. Our Katamarayudu Movie Review will be up here soon.
