Raghava Review

Raghava is another of those flicks on Rayalaseema factionalism that part-time Telugu film producers and directors keep conjuring up as fast as they can copy an earlier script or in 57 seconds, whichever is shorter. However, if there are indeed people out there killing themselves over nothing, then their sacrifices are not going in waste. Folks in Tollywood are making out like bandits portraying that crap.

Raghava is a quintessential example of how movies can be made with lesser creativity than you need to go to the toilet. Raghava Reddy (Suresh) is the only son of a pre-historic warlord in "seema", and looks so amazingly dumb, you are wondering how come he doesn't have a tail. Unfortunately, the movie doesn't end here.

Upon Dad's bidding, Raghava goes ahead and skunks long-time rival Laxma Reddy (Kota Srinivasa Rao), who's just gotten out of jail and who has so many crimes in his rap sheet that even he doesn't remember committing some of them. Raghava demeans Laxma Reddy in full public view, causing the latter to swear equal and opposite action, which is really good since that is the only thing that has the potential to bring up the climax and the ending fast. But, ah, you've just entered the tannery.

Going by the rule that you need two persons for a duet, Raghava now goes ahead and falls in love with Anjali (Rajasri). But she doesn't want to have anything to do with him due to his violent ways, his dangerous enemies, his ruthless followers, and mostly, we suspect, due to uncertainty over whether the moron even knows what to do with a woman.

Raghava decides that he will shun all violence henceforth to gain Anjali's love, and even goes that extra mile when he shuns all shame to sing songs with disgusting lyrics. But the goons won't leave him alone, and the rest of the movie deals with the gruesome killing that can happen when you buy a ticket for the wrong movie.

The film is nothing but an unabashed excuse to make money using what Tollywood considers the flavor of the season. It tries its best to disguise this by spouting messages about how factionalism is evil - yeah, right, and people are going to reform when the flick ends with the hero roaring and spilling blood by the gallon 2 minutes after he's delivered his art-of-living dialogues.

Characterized by poor technical values and inconsistency - Suresh's seema dialect keeps going on and off faster than your attention - the film's only redeeming values are its comic scenes. Sudhakar's marriage scene is a good break and actually makes you exercise a few facial muscles.

Suresh does a great job of playing a confused feudal warlord who can chop hands off but needs help to change his own diaper. Otherwise, he's just insipid. Rajasri has so much makeup on, you wonder if there's a human being underneath all that. She still looks all her 40 years, and then a few more. Kota is as good as he usually is, however, and so is the entire comic cast.

So, you have a life or what?