Movie:
Sri Ramarajyam
Cast: Balakrishna, Nayantara, Akkineni Nageswara Rao, Master Gaurav, Master Dhanush, Srikanth, Sameer, K.R.Vijaya, Vindhu Dhara Singh, Balayya, Brahmanandam, Jhansi, Sana, Siva Parvathi
and others.
Music: Ilayaraja
Cinematography: Raju P.R.K.
Editing: Krishna Rao
Art: Ravinder
Producer: Yalamanchili Saibabu
Direction: Bapu
Banner: Sri Saibaba
Movies
Story: The story starts when Sri Rama (Balakrishna) and Sita (Nayantara) return to Ayodhya
after killing demon Ravanasura at Lanka. Sri Rama
gets coronation and becomes the ruler of Ayodhya
kingdom. One day, he comes to know through one of his messengers that some
people of Ayodhya suspect the chastity of Sita as she is in Lanka for one year under the clutches of
demon Ravana. Having felt deep agony, Rama orders Lakshmana to drop Sita in the
forest. She is pregnant then. Later, the sage Valmiki
provides shelter to Sita.
As the days pass by, Sita conceives
male twins. They are named Kusha and Lava by Valmiki. They get mastery over singing Ramayana, all
fighting skills etc. After couple of scenes, Sri Rama wants to perform Aswamedha Yaga. When the horse
comes to the Ashram of Valmiki, Kusha
and Lava tie the horse to a tree. Knowing this, Lakshmana
fights with the twins. In the fight he falls unconscious. And finally there is
a face to face fighting scenario between Sri Rama and Kusha
Lava. Sita enters the spot and reveals Lava and Kusha that Sri Rama is none other than their father. Later,
she merges in Bhoodevi. The story ends when Rama
enters Vaikuntam and disappears in the body of Lord
Sri Mahavishnu.
Artists Performance:
Balakrishna: Balakrishna reminds us late NTR in this fantastic role. Off
late, we have seen him in many aggressive characters in social movies. However,
this role shows us entirely different Balakrishna as
he oozed out lot of 'Karuna Rasam'
in this movie. In many scenes, he weeps about Sita's
missing. Tears came out through his eyes many times. On the flip side, he
looked too aged in this get up as wrinkles appeared very clearly in his neck
and cheeks. Also, he should have maintained his body fit for this role.
Nayantara: She was
cool at her performance. Her costumes and expressions were completely apt for
the role of Sita. It is going to be an all time best
performance in her career.
Akkineni Nageswara Rao:
He was quite active in his role in the character of Sage Valmiki.
He is in eighties now and it is really a wonder how he has delivered such a
superb performance in this age. It appears like he still can act for ten more
years. The dialogues uttered by him were sharp and filled with lot of
adages.
Others: Srikanth was
seen as Lakshmana. His performance in the scene when
he drops Sita in the forest was appealing. The
children who played the roles of Kusha and Lava did a
great job. Murali Mohan was seen as Janakudu. Brahmanandam and Jhansi
played the roles of washerman and woman. All others
did their job well.
Technical Department:
Music: Maestro Ilayaraja
has done a wonderful job by rendering good music and great background score. 'Jagadananda', 'Devulle vachcharu', 'Seemantham' etc. are
very good songs. Unlike old Lavakusha movie, no
poems, chants and slokas were seen in the movie.
Art and Visual Effects: Sets erected for this movie must be
specially mentioned. The Ashram of Valmiki, raja darbar set of Ayodhya, queen's
palace etc. were good. Visual effects in the fight between Lakshmana
and Kusha Lava, Bhoodevi's
entry in the climax were mind blowing.
Story, ScreenPlay
& Direction: This
movie is said to be the remake of old 'Lava Kusha' as
the story and narration went on exactly as it was in the old movie. Since Bapu has a great command over portraying mythological flicks,
no technical errors in the narration were noticed. However, many characters in
the movie went on weeping for many reasons at intervals. Almost all the
characters like Balakrishna, Nayantara,
Srikanth, Lava, Kusha etc.
Even though they are heart touching many times, too many of these crying scenes
bring boredom to the audience.
Sidelights:
- Some of the audience who had seen old Lava Kusha, compared many scenes of this movie with the old one.
- No song between Brahmanandam and Jhansi. In old 'LavaKusha', Relangi had a song.
- Instead of 'Sandehinchaku mamma' song from old movie, a dream situation for Sita was incorporated in this movie.
- The golden idol of Sita resembles to Nayantara as it is. Good work by the sculptor.
Catchy Dialogues:
- Ramarajyam ante... Ramudu sevinchina rajyam. Aatarvaathe..Ramudu palinchina rajyam. - Balakrishna
- Amma..Ayodhya ku prabhuvunainaa..ammaku biddaney - Balakrishna to K.R.Vijaya
- Samastha dharmaalakoo..mukhyamaina dharmam..sevadharmam..Ee Ramudu daniki baanisa. - Balakrishna
- Rama Rajyam ante, Rama, ayanamu..anagaa..Ramudu nadichinamaargamu. - ANR to Nayantara
- Parastree needanu koodaa thaakani Ramachandrudu, Parastreeloludaina, naa bharthanu samharinchagaladu. - Mandodari to SriRamudu
Positives:
- Balakrishna, Nayantara and other actors' performance.
- Music
- Visual effects and sets
- Exposure to our tradition, culture and other moral values after a long gap.
Negatives:
- Slow screen play
- Overdose of melodrama
Bottom-Line: Watch it for a change and watch it to encourage the idea of coming
up with more such movies with different subjects and different genres.
Rating: 3/5
