Ranga Ranga Vaibhavanga review: A staple family entertainer turns into an unintentional comedy

1/5

Story:

Rishi and Radha are kids to two best friends-cum-neighbours, who develop a liking for one another during their teenage years and split up due to a petty reason. While they still have the hots for one another and study in the same college, heightened egos stop them from expressing their love. Just when they’re about to break the ice and further their romance, a huge tussle drives a wedge between their families. Will the duo overcome these barriers and reunite?

Review:

A film buff familiar with Telugu family dramas over the years will know that Ranga Ranga Vaibhavanga has a safe, tried-and-tested template that should’ve ideally made for reasonable viewing on any given day. The only demand of the genre is the repackaging of the formula according to the times but Ranga Ranga Vaibhavanga’s director Gireeshaaya is even reluctant to make that upgrade. With a cast that fails to mask the deficiencies of his poor script, the film fails to take off in the first place.

Ranga Ranga Vaibhavanga is a Kushi-meets-Nuvvu Leka Nenu Lenu story. The premise is generic but should’ve been workable - two childhood sweethearts, two close families, followed by a conflict and a convenient resolution. For a film like this to work, the filmmaker needs to get at least one among the basic USPs of the genre - romance, humour or drama - right. Every frame and scene in the film feels so derived and unimaginative that you feel like he’s running a ‘spot-the-reference’ contest.

The director’s idea of love is - two people buying each other the same gifts, two vehicles facing each other in the parking lot in schools and colleges. His idea of a conflict is - a man coming in the way of a couple’s relationship, a brother trying to guard the honour of a family by putting the girl in her place. His idea of a climax is - the hero lecturing a joint family about rising above their differences and keeping the families together.

In between these ‘ideas’, Gireeshaaya throws a few songs into the mix, allows the ‘hero’ to flex the muscles and gets him to cuddle with the ‘heroine’ incessantly. The only aspect that works for Ranga Ranga Vaibhavanga is its music. It must have taken a lot out of Devi Sri Prasad to find inspiration to compose music for such a lacklustre storyline. The songs work individually but are situationally irrelevant in the context of the film. However, the cracks show up in the background score.

Beyond the romance and the family drama thread, Ranga Ranga Vaibhavanga is derailed by the subplot around Naveen Chandra’s political career. Not only is it tonally inconsistent, but it’s so laughably developed and painfully inauthentic. It’s time that filmmakers looked at Naveen Chandra beyond a staple anti-hero who’s waiting to be schooled by the protagonist. The director decides to give up on the second half mid-way and the disinterest reflects in the treatment of the scenes.

While good filmmakers, music and supporting cast did the heavy lifting for Vaisshnav Tej in his first two films Uppena and Konda Polam, his limitations as an actor are quite obvious here. His dialogue delivery lacks the punch, he’s too restrained to make comedy work. There’s no intensity in the action sequences and he lacks the charm to pull off romance too. Ketika Sharma is asked to stand like a doll, laugh, be angry and cry in ‘auto-pilot’ mode.

Naresh, Prabhu, Pragathi Suresh and Tulasi look helpless, even with their experience in family dramas, can’t do much to salvage the poor writing. Ravi Kumar Kasireddy, Satya and Raja Ravindra’s comedy sequences are intolerable, to say the least. Shamdat Sainudeen’s cinematography is impressive and distracts us from the mediocrity briefly. It’s disappointing how a well-known producer like Bvsn Prasad, having been there-done that in the industry for three decades, can back such an insipid product.

Verdict:

Stay away from Ranga Ranga Vaibhavanga, even if the glossy exterior of a family entertainer may tempt you so. Listen to Devi Sri Prasad’s album on Youtube instead and thank me later.