Bedurulanka 2012 Review: The Karthikeya, Neha Sshetty starrer is lengthy but has passable moments

2.5/5

Story

The film is set in a village named Bedurulanka in the year 2012. The people of Bedurulanka are scared to death after knowing the fact that the world will come to an end. Cashing in on this, one of the village heads(Ajay Ghosh) creates two fake godmen to engulf fear in the villagers. These godmen make a plan to loot the villagers by announcing that the only way of avoiding death is to sacrifice the gold they have. Their plans start working well until Siva(Karthikeya) enters the scenes and decides to break the myth of the villagers. How he manages to do all this is the story of Bedurulanka.

Review

Bedurulanka 2012 is directed by Clax and his story idea is quite novel. Taking the phenomenon of the world ending in the year 2012, the talented director has etched a crazy story of fear and how certain people make use of this situation and make money from it. What draws your attention to the narrative is the earthy atmosphere in the village which is beautifully created by the art department. The small town setup, period vibe, and production design in Bedurulanka 2012 are top-notch.

The film has a unique tone and great visuals which are ably supported by the well-cast actors. Be it the cunning Ajay Ghosh or the godmen played by Srikanth Iyengar and Jabardasth Ram Prasad, the film has good actors in key roles. The performances are what hold our attention till the end. But the film has a major issue of runtime. There was no need for the film to be two and a half hours long.

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Director Clax takes a lot of time to get into the main plot. The first half an hour does not boast of anything good and the actual purpose of the film is not clear to the audience. The director had so much scope to work on the love story and even had scope for subplots to a few key characters. But he does not do that and bores the audience with two romantic songs which take away the charm of the film. It is only before the last ten minutes in the first half, that things change and there is no looking back from there.

There are hilarious scenes in the second half and the entry of Satya and Vennela Kishore only makes things better. The plan that the hero makes to open the eyes of the villagers is superb. The unfolding of the world coming to an end is narrated in a hilarious manner and keeps the audience on their toes. Karthikeya makes a comeback to the big screen after a long time and he is perfect in his role. His chemistry with Neha Sshetty is also amazing as the young actress looks superb as the village belle.

Ajay Ghosh is a seasoned actor and his comic timing and negative shades are used superbly by the director. Srikanth Iyengar as the Hindu godman and Jabardasth Ram Prasad as the Christian godman were hilarious in their roles. Without taking too many digs at the religious beliefs, the director shows how these godmen cheat the public. The music composed by Mani Sharma is amazing as all the songs are good. The BGM is even better. The editing is dull as close to twelve minutes in the film should have been chopped off.

The climax song that suddenly erupts to evoke celebration looks a bit odd. The camera work showcasing the village visuals is very good. Bedurulanka 2012 has an interesting premise and instead of making the same old commercial flicks, the director Clax has surely tried something new and narrates the film on a fun note. If the beginning half had been better, the film village drama's outcome would have been something else.

Verdict

On the whole, Bedurulanka is a quirky comedy that has a very interesting backdrop. Though the film starts on a very dull and slow note, the second half makes up for the lost time and leaves you with a smile by the end. The icing on the cake is the solid performances by the star cast.

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