Red Review

Red is not a film to be watched, it is a film to be survived. It is yet another dubbed flick (originally Tamil) that tries to disseminate one-upmanship unwaveringly. If you pulled every cliché and every stereotype out of it, you'd have nothing more than two hours of darkness, and dear God, what refreshing two hours those would be.

The quintessential male protagonist (Ajit) of this movie tries to reiterate the same larger-than-life crescendo that many harebrained have done in past, playing Red ("R for Revolution, E for Education and D for Development"). Red employs a proven Tollywood formula that has been around for decades - milking the rich to cover his expenses. I'm sure that the Indian police have their problems, but my goodness, this movie portrays them as a street gang.

Maybe Red in itself would be a perfectly passable story if only Red (Ajit) would stick to his good deeds and to beating the life out of every baddie he meets. But no, Red bumps in to Gayatri (Priya Gill), and the story takes a turn that would cause any writing teachers in the audience to go apoplectic with rage. The otherwise detached guy suddenly finds meaning in his life, and decides to go ahead and take a plunge into love with her. Then, after a lot of stereotypical twists, he gets married to her and, that's The End.

Director Ram Satya tries to coalesce two things that don't go together: romance and an episode of one-upmanship. Less credulous viewers will definitely challenge Ram Satya's reinvention of an outlaw's life as a spotless, sun-dappled wonderland where the guy lives in big bungalows and color coordinates his wardrobes for every possible occasion.

The portrayal of "reality" is certainly among the worst of the film's offenses. All of the performances are inconsequential, and the music isn't worth mentioning, either. A lot of characters are wasted in the movie.

Finally, if you're dragged to this film because your spouse wants to go, be warned that the experience will create enough enduring resentment to destroy even the most solid of marriages.