maryadea ramanna review

Friday, July 23, 2010


There are no doubts to any Telugu film lover or any Telugu cine celebrity about the capabilities or stamina of maverick director SS Rajamouli. He is beyond all those doubts or questions as he delivered super hits and earth shattering blockbusters in a row. When there is no one to question his skills, Rajamouli questioned and has put a big test for himself with Maryada Ramanna. There is no star to shoulder this film for him. This film is devoid of all the masala elements that are usually present in an SS Rajamouli’s film.
Rajamouli pointed a finger at himself when nobody could dare to do in their wildest dreams especially after his mighty blockbuster Magadheera! So, did he come out in flying colors in his self-assessment test? Did SS Rajamouli prove he is ‘Super-Strong’ even without a star to support him and with no sword to defend him?
Let’s get into the details of Maryada Ramanna…

This film doesn’t boast of any complicated story. It doesn’t have the fiery flashback that is a regular feature in a Rajamouli’s film. The story is so simple and straightforward. A helpless, innocent and cowardly protagonist Ramu (Sunil) lands himself in the scariest situation as he is not aware of it. His father’s crime-past haunts him and puts him in a house that many of the people in it want him dead by hook or crook. However, there is a lifeline for Ramu as the persons who wanted to kill him won’t do that when he is inside their house. Ramu comes to know about the danger and also the lifeline. All he has to do is to keep himself inside that house’s entrance, no matter what the situations demands. But there has to be one day that Ramu should get out of the house and run for his life. When will that happen? How can he run from all the hundreds of blood-thirsty goons who are ready to die to kill him? Watch the film to know it.

Sunil is tailor made for Ramu’s role. Innocence and cowardly nature is what this character demands and who else in Telugu film industry can pull of such role better than Sunil? He didn’t act, he didn’t have to act, he simply behaved like himself and that worked superbly for this film. There are other occasions that demanded more than innocence and cowardly nature and Sunil excelled in those scenes too. His dances in ‘Endukila Naa Kharma kaalipoyindi…’ and ‘Raaye raaye Saloni..’ songs are a bonus.

Saloni too did well in whatever role she has got. There is not much demanded from the actress, but she managed to impress when the camera is facing her. Nagiveedu’s character has two shades. He has to be the best host when he is inside his house and he needs to be the ghost when stepped outside. This man gave a brilliant performance. Supreeth as his son did a good job too.

Brahmaji got the best role among the lot and he pulled it off. Kanchi and Rao Ramesh are okay in their brief roles. On a whole everyone on screen did their best to meet the director’s demands. Behind the screen there is one more star for Maryada Ramanna and he is none other than Raviteja, who lent his voice to mouth the dialogs of a cycle that is ridden by Sunil in this film. Raviteja is at his usual best in delivering those naughty lines written for the cycle. However, those dialogs get repetitive and lack the punch in few scenes.

Once again it was MM Keeravani who stood tall for Rajamouli among the technical crew. His songs are catchy and worthy enough to make the audiences glued to their seats. Except ‘Saloni..’ all the songs are situational and well picturized. As always Keervani’s background score is the main asset for this film. 

Kanchi’s story is simple and cute. He also wrote the dialogs for this film and there are some praiseworthy lines and there are few weaker ones too. An experienced writer might have been handy for Rajamouli. There is not much comedy in the film and it is dialog writer’s burden to come up with rib tickling stuff. Despite his hard work Kanchi failed to do so. Cinematography by C. Ramprasad is very good. The chase scene is canned excellently well. Editing is crisp. The film’s length is just over two hours.

Now, coming to the work of the HERO of this film, SS Rajamouli!!! As said at the start, he challenges himself by putting him in the weakest possible situation. He gave up all the commercial aspects that were his key weapons in his ‘Super-Successful’ career. And yet he delivered! He is one director who has the guts to tie up his hands and still come out victorious against all the odds.

Maryada Ramanna throws many challenges to Rajamouli. First thing he has to do is to keep it simple and on the ground always. He has to make sure about his hero’s strengths and weaknesses. Last but not the least he shouldn’t let his hero rise the arm against the villains at any given point of time. Rajamouli did all these at ease. He told a victorious-warrior’s story without making him touch any weapon.

There are many scenes that show the brilliance of Rajamouli and also give an idea about the lighter side of him. The scene where Sunil wants to buy a ‘Kobbari Bondam’ for heroine, the interval scene in which Sunil tries everything to keep himself behind that house entrance, the scene where Sunil gets caught on the pole and the climax chase scene are the best scenes in the film.

There are occasions when the story lacked the legs and dragged for sometime. There are times when audiences get bored of the repetitive scenes inside the house. But Rajamouli is capable enough to close those holes with his extra-ordinary filmmaking skills. The scene where Sunil gets out of the locked room to save his life from Supreeth and the dialog that Sunil utters to Saloni in the climax scene are superb examples to support the above statement.

Maryada Ramanna is an entertaining treat for families and class crowds. However, hardcore masala lovers and ardent Rajamouli fans might get disappointed with the low power treat from the mass director.

-         Rajamouli’s brilliance
-         Sunil’s performance and dances
-         Interval and climax episodes
-         Background score and cinematography

-          Not much comedy
-          Slow pace in certain portions


Final Say:
Go without expectations and this Ramanna will sure win yours ‘Maryada’!

South Rating ::3/5

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