"Rudramadevi" Movie Review (Telugu)

My review:

https://www.telugu360.com/rudrama-devi-review-authentic-but-imperfect/

Varudu verdict

Its difficult to pick a bone with the first half of  "Varudu" after I watched it after a busy season of marriages. This being the season of marriages - Varudu  - shines bright in the first half. There's impeccable  settings, a demure heroine, some heart-tugging dialogues and some extra-ordinary recount of the typical Telugu marriage. This  makes the movie mesmerisingly good till interval - then all hell breaks lose with the entry of Aryan - the villain. And the movie loses plot with weak characterisation, unconvincing villainy encouraged by impotent police and implausible subvention of the system by the villainy. Its here that Gunasekhar  - who does a fair effort in comeback  - goofs up. The villain part - the Ravana in the Ramayana piece of the movie - is overdone with unwarranted intensity and implausible sadism and cruelty. But for this which rankles the whole of second half, Varudu manages to strike a chord with everybody who believes in both arranged marrriages or love marriages. Allu Arjun tries hard but can't stand the onslaught of the intense-looking villain - Aryan - who charged a crore for the film. Two songs by Mani Sharma get you paisa vasool.

Missing something?

Heard that "Varudu" movie is not that great - has been made into a remix of Ramayana and Okkadu. Looks like Gunasekhar has not done much homework behind going into one set-wonders for each of his movies - the care he takes to make one grand opulent setting the centrestage and backdrop of his movies is not there in other aspects of film-making. This one may have been made for appeasing Allu Arjun.