Movie: RX 100
Rating: 2.5/5
Banner: karthikeya Creative Works
Cast: Karthikeya, Payal Rajput, Ramki, Rao Ramesh and others
Music: Smaran
Cinematography: Raam
Editor: Praveen K L
Producer: Ashok Reddy Gummikonda
Written and directed by: Ajay Bhupathi
Release date: June 12, 2018
If there is one film that has been attracting the youth for some time with its bold promos, it ought to be 'RX 100'. Although the film is made by newcomers with a new star cast, it garnered huge publicity, thanks to the promos that showed a lot of kiss scenes.
Let’s see how the film is...
Story:
Story is set in a village called Athreyapuram. In the village, a political leader (Rao Ramesh) has a strong supporter named Daddy (Ramky).
The leader’s daughter Indu (Payal Rajput) who comes to the village from Bangalore for few days gets attracted to Daddy’s henchman Shiva (Karthikeya).
It is Indhu who initiates a roaring love affair. Mid-way, she gets married to another guy leaving Shiva frustrated.
Why did she not marry him? Who played spoilsport in their love story?
Artistes’ Performances:
Karthikeya has no conventional good looks, but he has the right body for the role that he has portrayed here. He is rugged. He has done a decent job as far as performance is concerned.
It is Payal Rajput who steals the show. She has done a bold act and has performed well in the crucial scenes.
Rao Ramesh’s character is silly, but he has done it in his typical manner.
The role of Ramky reminds us of Sai Kumar in ‘Prasthanam’. He is okay. The guy who sings padyalu (verses) impresses.
Technical Excellence:
Raam’s cinematography is gritty. He has avoided lush green visuals and shown a different Rajamundry and surroundings area. Background score is good. Editing is first rate in the second half. Production values are neat.
Highlights:
Bold sequences
Twist in the tale
Payal Rajput
Final portions
Drawback:
Boring initial portions
No depth
Excessive Runtime
Mindless violence
Analysis:
Tollywood is slowly witnessing gritty love stories and movie-makers are also experimenting with characterizations of protagonists.
Debutant director Ajay Bhupathi, who has worked for Ram Gopal Varma for many years, has given hitherto unthinkable twist to the main protagonist (revealing this will be a spoiler).
In that way, “RX 100” is bold in its intent and different. But can a film be considered positively different for this reason?
Ajay Bhupathi sets his tone at the very beginning. The story begins with Shiva (Karthikeya) searching for his love at her home even while a funeral process is on. It establishes that he is blinded by love. Then the story moves back to three years and introduces the love story between Shiva and Indhu.
The director has broken many conventional narrative styles. Here heroine desires him. When did she like him? The moment she sees his upper bare body when he is doing an election procession. Thus begins their romance and she teaches him first kiss and love making. Such a bold move!
However, the director has taken entire one hour or so to come to actual “act of love”. Before that it wavers on village politics and violent fights. There are also many unnecessary scenes and nearly four songs in the first half that test patience.
Much of the first half becomes just a titillation with the bold kiss scenes (the kiss scenes are not aplenty, but they are shot in a raw way like biting each other’s lips, etc) and suggestive love-making scenes.
When the love-making is not happening on the screen, the mind-numbing violent fights are shown. When the restlessness creeps in, the director ends the first half with right bang and later reveals twists in the second half. The twist makes the movie worth the watch.
Although there is no rhyme and reason to this twist, the director ends with a title card that it is inspired by a real guy in his life.
Anyone who has seen Bollywood movie “Saheb, Biwi Aur Gangster” can easily identify with the setting and the elements of desire and betrayal here. But “RX 100” is more intense with uneven narration. Even when the film turns gripping in the final portions, the prolonged fights and raw violence are a put off.
Overall, “RX 100” is raw love story made with a different approach. It is an unconventional romantic story with hard-hitting elements and steamy scenes.
The film is not for all, it will be liked more by the youth who seek some boldness and twists in romantic dramas.
Bottom-line: Steamy Affair!