A Massy Dull Mess

Movie Name: Guntur Kaaram

Directed by: Trivikram Srinivas

Language: Telugu

What could have been a solid political drama turned out to be just another generic movie with generic scenes and characters. Ramana, who hails from Guntur (obviously), is fiery, short-tempered, and raw. The story revolves around the relationship between Ramana and his mother. The drama created in the first 20 minutes by Guruji (Trivikram Srinivas) was gripping and solid. However, from then on, the real conflict and drama were not developed further. One generic scene followed another.

The movie is 2 hours and 42 minutes long, making it difficult to watch in one go due to the same old routine writing. There were just a few mass dialogues which deserve the praise, otherwise it was generic at its best.Take, for example, the flashback where Vasundhara (Ramya Krishna) explains why she left Ramana in his childhood—an entire sequence that was rushed through in just 15 seconds, leaving no time for emotional connection. The scene fell extremely flat, and Thaman's superb score was overused and reused to force intensity.

The inconsistency in portraying the Ramana's disability was evident throughout the movie. He was introduced as someone with weak vision in his left eye, which was a great writing choice, but this detail was used in just one segment and then completely ignored for the rest of the story.

The antagonist, played by Prakash Raj, is a cunning and self-centered narcissist who cares only about power. His character was well-written but could have been fleshed out better. Ramya Krishna, who plays the mother, is limited to rack-focus shots that primarily highlight Mahesh Babu. Sree Leela plays the typical Telugu movie heroine, existing solely for dance sequences and objectification. I have no clue why Meenakshi Chaudhary was in the movie at all.

The mother-son sentiment was heavily amplified by Thaman’s score, which eventually became overwhelming. Mahesh Babu is fun to watch on screen, but his Guntur accent in this movie was irritating at best. Things could have been better, but they weren’t. Guntur Kaaram could have been a great political drama if it had avoided relying on generic tropes.