Balaraju Aadi Bammaridi Review

Spinning a fresh story calls for a lot of requirements to be met - inspiration, a certain frame of mind, frozen real time dimensions, pots of piping hot coffee, and an endless supply of cigarettes and creative juices.

Retelling a story, on the other hand, is as old as the culture of narration itself. It simply requires a producer willing to throw away a couple of cash bags, a film crew on the lookout for work experience, and a cast trying to grab some spotlight and hopefully elicit at least a faint ring at the box office. Balaraju Aadi Bammaridi belongs to the second category, and the narration is as smooth as the chew-toy of a healthy dog.

In the movie, Aryan Rajesh plays an engineering student who falls in love with a damsel who spurs him to win a bike race by even throwing competitors off their bikes for good measure. The damsel (Shraddha Arya) in question is a tender-hearted girl who lost her parents as a young girl and has been brought up by a doting brother Balaraju (Sri Hari).

Balaraju is the quintessential angelic big brother who leaves no stone unturned to keep his sister happy. He is a businessman - it does not matter which business - who is at the helm of India's biz scene, can establish a 1,000 multiplexes across Andhra Pradesh any time he wishes, and has 4 men in black tailing him for no clear purposes.

In this exercise of cliches, the leading lady is a classical dancer, frequents an orphanage and purchases clothes for them from Kalaniketan, swears by her brother, and sagely advises those who claim love for her to concentrate on their academics, earn a job and keep parents happy.

The hero is a man of action, and has a supposedly clever mind that can manipulate just about any person he encounters. The antagonist is an extremely successful businessman who can easily be twirled around the little finger of the protagonist.

The story looks like a messy, foul-tasting midnight snack that you would make with whatever edibles you can find in the kitchen. The script-writer appears to have plonked down dialogues as and when he remembered them, robbing the story of continuity.

The editing team would do well to acquaint themselves with the "transition effects" menu in their editing program, a feature that would have smoothed out the rough edges of disjointed cuts.

If Aryan Rajesh really intends to stage a comeback, he must be a part of better ventures. After all, a toned physique and a fair face does not an actor make.

Shraddha Arya does her part commendably, but unflattering camera angles ruin her look most of the time. Dr. Srihari is grossly limited by the lack of a story, but fits the bill of his rehashed character. Satyam Rajesh and Tanikella Bharani flit across the screen, while Charan Raj, Chandra Mohan, Srinu and Raghu Babu are underused.

The songs jump at you without warning, and are over by the time your pulse rate returns to normal. They are not even worth YouTube time.

Balaraju Aadi Bammaridi has been awarded an A certificate, even though it has no skin show, blood fountains or even hints of sexual innuendos, to its credit. And since it is highly unlikely that small screens will broadcast this film, you can simply ignore its existence.