Gaayam 2 : Movie Reviews Collection

Film: Gaayam-2
Banner: Kartha Creations
Cast: Jagapathi Babu, Kota, Vimala Raman, Tanikella, Kota Prasad, Harshavardhan, Ajay, Tarzan, Nagesh, Ravi Kale, Jeeva, Revathi, Siva Krishna and others
Dialogues: Gandham Nagaraju
Music: Ilayaraja
Camera: Anil Bandari
Editing: Praveen
Director: Praveen Sri
Producer: Dharma Kartha
Release date: 03/09/2010

Story
Ram (Jagapathi Babu) leads a peaceful and happy life in Bangkok with a successful coffee shop business and a loving family in the form of his beautiful wife Vidya (Vimala), doting son and a brainless brother in law (Harshavardhan). His life takes a turn with the arrival of two people from Hyderabad- a lawyer (Tanikella) and Shankar Narayana (Kota Prasad), son of politician Guru Narayana (Kota Srinivasa Rao), an aspiring CM through the crooked way. The trio suspects that Ram is none other than Durga, their age old rival who gave them sleepless nights. Shankar Narayana and his lawyer try several ways to confirm the true identity of Ram. Whether their doubts are true or not and what happens after that forms the rest of the story.

Review by GreatAndhra.com (Rating: 3/5)

Performances
Jagapathi Babu has done it before so he didn’t have to strain much, however, he still maintains that intensity in his eyes and the icy violence in his baritone voice.

Vimala Raman is a screen scorcher, though her role is domestic, she shows her wild side in one song which is enough visual feast. She is a tempting seductress blended with good acting skills.

Kota Srinivasa Rao is the show stealer. Despite so many years, his class as an actor and his typical Telangana style dialogues are excellent.

Tanikella was another impressive performer. His character has got length and he fits into it with perfect caliber and screen presence.

Kota Prasad’s performance was effective, he has carried out his role with ease and the right kind of emotions. It is sad that we have lost a fine actor…

Ajay was brief, Ravi Kale was regular, Jeeva was natural, Tarzan was funny, Harshavardhan was average, Nagesh was a new face who is to be watched out for, he has shown potential, the others were there to fill the screen and contributed in their own way.

Analysis
Any film coming from the house of Ram Gopal Varma comes with certain expectations and usually, the results are extreme- a super hit or massive flop. But this time, the director has managed to bring it a saving grace and he was sharp in carrying the film without much hiccups. The dialogues were good, the background score was neat, songs could have been better as they had a retro effect, cinematography was appealing, editing was crisp, costumes and art department made their presence felt. Here are a few highlights of the film

The first half of the film is a straight lift from the Hollywood movie ‘A History Of Violence’. It is a literal scene to scene lift.

The makers had bravely shown the exact political situation in the state and one can relate Kota’s character to KCR in many ways. Incidentally, there is a lot of truth in the portrayal. The connection between the original and sequel was convincing which is a challenging part.

Scenes from the original ‘Gaayam’ drew whistles and claps from the audience, it was nice to see the raw clippings

On the flip side, since the plot was already known, there was not much variety tried and this brings down the interest. Also, those who have seen the Hollywood movie may not find the first half too appealing since the English flick was awesome. There was an inconsistency in few emotional scenes and the graph fluctuates. Overall, the film runs well due to its racy narration, good continuation and some fine performances. At the box office, this would be an above average grosser but if the makers can push it with aggressive publicity, the film will surely strike the success mark.

Bottom-line: It’s just ok

BharatStudent.com (Rating: 3/5)


Presentation
The director has come up with a continuation to the original and his presentation, narration were decent. The dialogues were good, the script was alright and the screenplay was consistent. Background score was good and songs were average. Cinematography was nice. Editing was crisp. Costumes were apt and the art department was appealing. Jagapathi Babu carries out his role with élan and he was effective. Vimala Raman looks seductive to the core. The real show stealer was Kota, he was excellent. Kota Prasad was good. Ajay was brief. Tanikella was another star performer. Nagesh Salve is another man to watch out for, he resembles Ajay Devgn in few angles. Ravi Kale was regular, the others did their bit as required.

Conclusion
The film happens to be a sequel to the original movie 'Gaayam' which came many years ago. While the first half was a lift from a Hollywood film, the second half was perfect in connection and it syncs well with the audience. Though there were hiccups in the emotional graph and few critical scenes, overall the pace and the narration makes it watchable. At the box office, this should be an above average entertainer and if word of mouth goes correctly then it will be a hit.
Bharatstudent verdict: Worth watching once...

123Telugu.com (Rating: 3.25/5)


What is Good: The first half is high on fire. Characters are introduced and established with little effort. Kota Srinivasa Rao and Thanikella Bharani look like they are competing with each other in acting department. Kota Srinivasa Rao’s son Prasad, who passed away recently, acts as Kota’s son. His characterization is inspired from Sonny Corleone in ‘God Father’.

There is one particular scene, when Jagapathi Babu closes his eyes as Ram and opens them like Durga. Even though only for a second, that is one of the best performance in Telugu films, in recent times.

It is good to see Revathi in few scenes. Infact for those who haven’t watched ‘Gayam’, the film is cut short and shown to the audiences. Though the difference between Ram Gopal Varma and the rookie director is evident, the first half rocks!

Seniors’ acting, shot making, cinematography and background music keep you engrossed. However it is in the second half that the film starts to loose its fizz.

What is bad: Conveniences start playing havoc with the screenplay, after Durga returns to Hyderabad. He has an almost loyal gang even before he returns after many years! As we see the crowd scenes, political speeches, media frenzy, the story becomes polluted. The music sounds as if something huge is happening, but the visuals show very little. Infact all dons are planners and they only drive their plans. They never execute it. By showing Durga killing ordinary goons, writers opt for ‘showing’ heroism, than getting his power connected to the audiences (like in ‘Gayam’).

Vimala Raman looks singled out in the midst of all these actors, not knowing when to underplay or be loud. Her dubbing artist too disappoints! Harshavardhan’s character is just unnecessary. The flashback scene got one of the film’s low points.

However it is the climax that is extremely low in content and too convenient for anyone to guess. It is reminiscent of ‘Rann’; but it had someone like Amitabh Bachchan to drive it. But here it seems like Durga does nothing at all! However, we might give the director a benefit of doubt because Kota Prasad passed away in the middle of the film. This might have changed the way the director had planned what he wanted earlier.

Technical Departments: : Director Pravin Sri shows all the skills he must have learnt from his boss. For most part of the film it seems he got his head right on his shoulders! To control actors like Kota and Bharani requires special skills and he never allows any other actor, except Prasad, to go overboard.


Dialogues are exceptional in some situations, and on the whole good. Lyrics are all meaningful and Illayaraja keeps his score in check. Cinematographer must have had fun shooting close ups of some terrific actors, building the emotions out of nothing and also having lots of crowd scenes. Together the cinematographer, editor and art director do a very balanced job.
Final Point: ‘Gayam 2’ is no ‘Gayam’, where one scene after another keeps getting better and better. But it is a worthy sequel. Yes it has problems, but most are forgivable because of the content the film deals with. Go watch it for the way it brings some modern cinematic language to Telugu.

sources:
http://greatandhra.com/ganews/viewnews.php?id=23352&cat=1&scat=12
http://www.bharatstudent.com/cafebharat/view_news-Telugu-News_and_Gossips-2,68495.php
http://www.123telugu.com/reviews/G/Gaayam_2/Gaayam2_review.html