Ready Review

The instinctive reaction for most of us upon watching a quick-witted hero thinking brilliantly on his feet in Catch-22 situations, is thinking that it is possible - and that, heck, even we can do it if we practise enough in some way. Even if we do not know a single person in real life who can do that.

Ready is such an impossible tale, but its brilliance lies in how possible it looks, thanks to a remarkable scripting effort. The coincidences are Wodehouse-ian in the dexterity with which they are made to happen, the plotting is almost flawless, the performances - especially by Brahmanandam who starts believing he is the creator, and the kid Bharat Kumar who plays Jayaprakash Reddy's grandson and mini-factionist - are benchmarks, and on the whole this is one of the most complete family entertainers of recent times.

Chandu (Ram) is the scion of a business family, and in an attempt to help a friend get his love, kidnaps the wrong girl Pooja (Genelia) just about to get married. Pooja is delighted since she was being forced into the marriage anyway, and on a trek to get her to Kurnool, the couple fall in love.

Chandu gets Pooja to stay at his home on a flimsy pretext, and she gells well with his joint family, but she is kidnapped again by Pedarayudu (Kota), her evil uncle who is after her property and wants her to marry his son. Aiming for the same is evil uncle no. 2 Chitti Rayudu (Jayaprakash Reddy), and Chandu has to rescue his love by playing with the heads of these 2 powerful warlords.

The second half of the film is where most of its innovativeness lies, as the wily Chandu lands as the assistant of McDowell Murthy (Brahmanandam), the auditor for both the warring uncles. He executes a cunning masterplan fraught with risk and a comedy of errors, as he aims to get the uncles to accede to the marriage.

Ready is marked, as we said, by some true comic genius in scripting, and excellent performances by the comic greats of Tollywood, notably Brahmanandam. After the roles of Charygaru in Dhee (another Srinu Vaitla movie) and Bobby in Krishna, he gives a rip-roaring performance again as McDowell Murthy (and don't ask about that name), showing just why it is always a great idea to give him a full role rather than a cameo. You may find McDowell Murthy similar Charygaru, but you'll hardly mind it, since most of us didn't get enough of Charygaru anyway.

Next in line is Bharat Kumar, the kid who plays Jayaprakash Reddy's grandson - the exceptionally energetic performance by the young gun lightens up a good chunk of the second half. Ram is improving as an actor, and is almost par for the course for the role, while Genelia is her usual expressive self is a role that merely flanks the mainstream tale. Sunil's role is more about mannerisms, and that can bore you after the introductory giggles it elicits.

The film moves from a rather plebian first half to a more engaging second, and while it has its share of stuff that make it a mere movie - for example, those Spiderman and Krishh bits, and that old scourge of Telugu films, the fights - it has plenty to more than make up. The music (by Devi Sri Prasad) is the kind that can grow on you if you are forced to listen to it several times, which appears likely since the film itself should do quite well.

Ready is a fine piece of movie-making, and feel free watch it with your entire family for a fine weekend outing.