Rangabali Review: The Naga Shaurya, Yukti Thareja starrer is a half-baked romantic drama that clicks only in the first half

2.5/5

Story

Shaurya(Naga Shaurya) is a careless youth in the small town of Rajavaram. Fed up with his behavior, his father sends him to Vizag to work as an assistant to a medical student named Sahaja(Yukti Thareja). Sharuya falls in love with Sahaja and even convinces her father to marry her. But the moment Shaurya reveals to her father(Murali Sharma) that he is from Rajavaram, the bride's father says no to the wedding right away. What is the backstory of the heroine's father? What is the story behind the Rangabali Center? and how does the hero solve his issues? That forms the story of the film.

Review

Rangabali is an important location in the small town of Rajavaram. The story is woven around this location and three subplots are connected to it. One is the hero-heroine angle, the other is the villain angle, and the last is the flashback episode which has Sarath Kumar in a key role. The director Pawan Bamisetti has made sure he introduced the hero in an entertaining manner. The way he lives his life with his friends, and how he falls in love with the female lead is showcased in a very organic and entertaining manner.

In all this, what draws your attention is the hilarious role portrayed by comedian Satya. He is just amazing in the film and carries the proceedings on his shoulders during the entire first half. He as a sadistic person gives so many laugh-out moments in the film. The conflict point of Rangabali center is brought in quite organically in the first half.

But things fall flat in the second half. The story takes a U-turn and more importance is given to the Rangabali center and how the villain makes use of it. This is where the film goes for a toss. The proceedings for the most part are logicless and do not make any sense. The manner in which the main lead's flashback is included in the key plot looks outright silly. 

There are so many over-the-top moments in the film. For instance, the hero wears a white shirt when he is in the mood to fight. He even finds time to leave the location of the fight and makes sure he wears a white shirt and gets back to fight. Such is the silliness in his characterization. There is no conflict in the second half and the one shown also does not make sense. 

Also, the family's emotions and the hero's father going through insults all of a sudden look forced. Naga Shaurya looks super fit and does his role in a convincing manner. He plays his part sincerely but is lost a bit in the second half. After making a solid impression in Dasara, Malayalam actor, Shine Tom Chacko does not get enough meat to portray in the second half. His character is not elevated properly and Shine just goes with the flow and looks clueless by the end of the film. 

Emraan Hashmi's 'Lut Gaye' song fame, Yukti Thareja makes her Telugu debut with Rangabali and she was quite impressive. Be it her natural looks or chemistry with Shaurya, Yukti Thareja was impressive with her Telugu entry. As said earlier, comedian Satya steals the show. If not for him, the entire film would have gone for a toss. Whenever he is on screen, he evokes hilarious laughs and keeps the audience entertained. Sarath Kumar is impressive in his limited screen presence. Brahmaji and Saptagiri bore you with their cameos.

Pawan CH has composed the music and his tunes are impressive. The editing is decent and the production design showcasing the small-town setup was also neat. The BGM and the production design were decent. Coming to Director Bamisetti, he has written a simple story and added a decent comedy angle to the plot. While he narrates the first half in a funny tone, there is too much for him to handle in the second half. That is the reason, all the important scenes like the family drama and villain angle look forced leaving the audience gutted.

Verdict

On the whole, Rangabali has a clean and entertaining first half. Satya leaves the audience in splits with his hilarious performance and the pace is set perfectly for the second half. But the latter part takes a U-turn as it has forced emotions, logicless scenes, and boring flashbacks making the film fall flat on its face and ending as a half-baked romantic drama. 

Also Read: Rudramambapuram review