Film: RACHA

Theme: Baap Kaa Lakshya Aur (Baap Kaa) Badla (Revenge Drama)

Cast: Ram Charan Teja, Tamanna, Ajmal, Kota Srinivas Rao, Paruchuri Venkateshwar Rao,  Nazzar, Mukesh Rushi, Ravi Babu, Brahmanandam, M.S. Narayana, Ali, Dev Gill, Jhansi, Pragathi, Sudha and others.
Music: Mani Sharma
Editing: Goutham Raju
Dialogues: Paruchuri Brothers
Producers: Paras Jain and N.V.Prasad
Direction: Sampath Nandi

Theater Watched: Serra Theater, Milpitas, California, USA

Plot: Betting Raju (Ram Charan) is separated from his family and childhood buddy Ammu, in his childhood. He becomes an orphan and he is taken care of by another couple M.S.Narayana and Sudha. He gets into bettings, faces tough challenges, wins (always) and earns money. He defeats James(Ajmal) in a car racing bet and wins 1 lakh. M.S.Narayana, who is a drunkard, falls severely ill and 20lakhs are required for his liver transplantation. Betting Raju is approached by James, who wants to avenge his defeat and asks him to face a bet.
 According to the deal, Raju has to make Chaitra (Thamanna), daughter of a notorious mining tycoon  Bellary (Mukesh Rushi), to fall in love with him. He has to do this job in just 30 days. If he succeeds, then he would get 20 Lakhs from James, which are required for M.S. Narayana's operation. Raju accepts the deal and jumps into action.  He tries to impress  Tamanna as a co-student. as a dance master and a few series of incidents follow. 

Is Betting Raju able to impress Chaitra? Who is Chaitra exactly? What is the relation between Ammu and Chaitra?  Why James has to offer a huge amount of 20 Lakhs to Raju? What is the main reason of Raju to become an orphan? What is the way he adopts to avenge his past? forms the rest of the story.

Ram Charan Teja: He is very energetic as the main lead. He played an out and out mass character and his body language, dialogues in a few scenes resembled that of Chiranjeevi. As usual his dances were good and fights were convincing. He is very handsome in this movie and this is his best look till date. He carried the whole film on his shoulders.

Tamanna: She is extremely glamorous in this movie. She looked well next to Ram Charan. Tamanna sizzled in songs and danced with ease. She increased her glamor quotient post Badrinath movie and we can see in this film too. She was confident on screen and got good scope for acting. In a couple of songs Thamanna received good response from the audience for her dance moves and glamour.

Mukesh Rushi is the main villain. Kota, Dev Gill played the other baddies. Srinivas Reddy, Tagubothu Ramesh, Venu Madhav acted as the heroes friends. Their comedy along with  Brahmanandam, Krishna Bhagawan, Ali, Ravi Babu and Jaya Prakash Reddy generated good humour in the first half. This comedy is the saving grace of the first half. 

Paruchuri Venkateshwar Rao was very good in the supporting role. Sudha, Pragathi, Nassar were apt. The guy who acted as Ram Charan's father(probably a Tamil actor) was not the right choice. Any other character artist, who is familiar to the Telugu audience, could have been better. 

One wonders what Vennela Kishore is doing in this movie. He goes completely unnoticed. The sad thing is that decent character artists like Jhansi and Sathya Krishnan were shown in a kind of vulgar scenes. Most of the dialogues of Jhansi had censor cuts. Actresses of such stature should not have acted so. Probably, the director (?) and the producers(?) must be blamed for such things.

Technical Aspects:  The Production values were grand. Cinematography is very good. Niche colours were shown in all songs and most of the film.  Dialogues by Paruchuri Brothers were impressive. Editing could  have been better. Songs composed by Mani Sharma look well on the screen. Dillaku Dillaku is the best in terms of composition and picturisation, followed by Racha title song. Vaana Vaana Velluvaaye is just average. The other songs like 'Singareni Vundhi..' and the one that comes in the first half were wrongly placed and they were the speed breakers for the film's narration. BGM by Mani Sharma is apt and it suited the mood of the film.

Fights were well composed and well executed. They were stylish(esp., interval bang, the one in the bamboo forests and the fight in the first half at the villain's house).

Direction by Sampath Nandi is not up to the mark. His amateurishness was obvious in many scenes. He could have dealt the movie well,so as to make it a better product.

Catchy Dialogues:
1) James: Naa Track Record Thelusukoni Maatlaadandi
Hero's friends: Maa Vaadu Vacchindhe Records Break Cheyyataaniki (This dialogue received huge response from the audience) 

2) Hero: Naa Daggara inthundhi ani thodagotte type kaadhu nenu (This one too had thundering applause, as Mega Fans noticed whom Ram Charan was referring too)

3) James: Vacche Dabbu tho Secunderabad lo sagam water problem theerchocchu. 

4) Hero: Nuvvu Aristhe Arupule..Nenu Aristhe Merupule.

5) Hero: Aap upar se bahuth accha, hum thereliye iddhar vacchaa, hum dono mile tho racha.

6) Hero: Raj..Betting raj..Aadhmi Kum, Risk Zyaadaa.

7) Villain: Vaadu theesukelthondhi naa koothurini kaadhu raa ....10000 kotla aasthini.

Positives:
1) Ram Charan and Thamanna
2) Cinematography
3) A few dialogues
4) Dillaku Dilla and Racha title song
5) Mass Elements

Negatives:
1) Routine story line
2) Not up to the mark direction
3) Average Music
4) Slow First Half 
5) Some what abrupt climax
6) Improper editing

Analysis: Racha is a formula based film.  This is a regular story where a son wants to achieve his father's goal and do good to his village and his people, at the same time to punish the baddies. We have watched this type of movies many times before. The director tried to narrate it in a fresh style, by introducing the heroine thread at the beginning of the film and main story would be in the flash back. This attempt became routine and Sampath Nandi succeed only partly in his work. The first half is a let down. More story or at least more entertainment in terms of songs and comedy would have been included. The tempo only raises in the second half, where a few twists are revealed and James narrating the flash back. But again the occurrence of climax is abrupt and lengthy. The Lord Hanuman locket thread was routine. Hero's introduction scene disappointed many, as masses expect a lot of effect in it.The film runs on a predictable note. Audience can easily guess what the next scene is.

Better direction and better editing might have yielded good results. This movie would get revenue in B and C centers. The success in A centers is doubtful. 
Over all Racha is targeted towards youth and masses. It is better film for Ram Charan compared to Orange and it would definitely become an average grocer..but not more than that. 

Bottom Line: It's just an average film. Can be watched once in your leisure. Go to theater only for Ram Charan Teja, Thamanna, a few songs, some punch dialogues and fights. Don't expect anything more.

Weekend Creations' Rating: 2.75/5

Reviewed By: Kaushik Sharma