Movie: Rama Banam
Rating: 2/5
Banner: People Media Factory
Cast: Gopichand, Dimple Hayathi, Jagapathi Babu, Khusbhu, Tarun Raj Arora, Nasser, Shubalekha Sudhakar, Sachin Khedekar, Kasi Vishwanath, Ali, Vennela Kishore, Sapthagiri, Satya, Get-up Srinu and others
Story: Bhupathi Raja
Dialogues: Madhusudan Padamati
Music: Mickey J Meyer
DOP: VetriPalanisamy
Editor: PrawinPudi
Action: Kanal Kannan, Ram Laxman, Venkat, Ravi Varma
Co-Producer: Vivek Kuchibhotla
Producer: T G Vishwa Prasad
Director: Sriwass
Release Date: May 05, 2023
"Rama Banam" marks the third collaboration between Gopichand and director Sriwass. They're hoping for a hat-trick after the success of their previous two films.
The film didn't generate much hype before its release, but the hit combination sparked some interest.
Story:
Vicky (Gopichand) works for a don in Kolkata and earns a lot of money. He is originally from Ramabhadrapuram in Andhra Pradesh, and in his teens he fled to Kolkata from his family due to ideological differences with his elder brother Ramaraju (Rajaram). Vicky is being threatened by another don named Mukherjee.
Meanwhile, Vicky's girlfriend Bhairavi's (Dimple Hayathi) father agrees to give him her hand only if he brings his family. Thus, Vicky returns to Hyderabad, where his brother established a large restaurant chain and also served as chairperson of the Food Commission.
Vicky's return delighted Ramaraju and his wife (Kushubu). Vicky soon discovers that his brother is having problems with a businessman named GK (Tarun Arora), who runs a fraudulent food business.
The rest of the story revolves around Vicky's efforts to save his brother.
Artistes’ Performances:
These kinds of roles come as naturally to Gopichand as sipping a cup of coffee. All he has to do is fight, dance with the heroine, and act out a few sentimental scenes. He does them well.
Dimple Hayathi is cast in yet another thankless role. Jagapathi Babu plays a typical idealistic "peddayana" as seen in a slew of films.
Khushbu looks okay as the hero's vadina and gets to dress in designer cotton sarees. Both of the antagonists are toothless. Vennela Kishore's gay comedy is standard fare.
Technical Excellence:
The richness of this film is striking. The producers must have spent a bomb to achieve the rich look. Only the cinematographer appears to have made an effort among the technicians.
None of the other technicians have produced anything noteworthy. Music (Mickey J Meyer) and writing are both clichéd.
Highlights:
Production values
Couple of sequences
Drawback:
Outdated story
Sriwass’s direction
Dull songs
Predictable to the core
Analysis
Audiences have begun to reject standard mass films that follow a template. While Telugu audiences occasionally enjoy formulaic dramas like "Waltair Veerayya" and "Veera Simha Reddy," they have grown tired of them overall.
Unfortunately, directors such as Sriwass, who are known for presenting mass dramas, have yet to recognize the current trend and adapt their ideas to the audiences' current tastes. "Rama Banam" exemplifies this.
Bhupathi Raja, known for his formulaic scripts, likely wrote this story 20 years ago. Director Sriwass penned the screenplay, which includes scenes from hundreds of popular films.
"Rama Banam" begins in Kolkata, returns to Hyderabad, moves to a small village, and then returns to Hyderabad again. In between, we see the hero romancing, fighting, and saving his family without them realizing it, among other things. He also transfers Rs 50 crore to his niece's father-in-law in less than a minute. If we were to list out each scene and fight in the film, we could give many examples from previous blockbusters. "Rama Banam" is a mash-up of old masala movies.
While Director Sriwass is usually good at comedy, the scenes involving Sathya, Ali, Vennela Kishore, and Getup Srinu this time don't add much. They don't make you laugh out loud.
The film becomes slightly better after the first half, but it turns clichéd again in the final act.
Overall, "Rama Banam" suffers from a formulaic plot and an obsolete setup. Despite its attempts to appeal to a mass audience, it provides little to its intended crowd. It turns out to be more of the same masala fare.
Bottom line: Old and Tired