Review-in-pics: Bejawada

Known to stir a hornet's nest with most of his films, Ram Gopal Varma now picks gang wars of the 80s for Telugu film Bejawada, produced by him.

Dec 01, 2011 17:13 IST

Cast: Naga Chaitanya, Amala Paul, Prabhu, Mukul Dev, Abhimanyu Singh, Subhalekha Sudhakar, Ajay and others

Credits: Music – Amar Mohile/Bapi/Tutul, Producer – Ram Gopal Varma, Direction – Vivek Krishna

Known to stir a hornet's nest with most of his films, Ram Gopal Varma now picks gang wars of the 80s for Telugu film Bejawada, produced by him.
Though the theme sounds edgy, director Vivek Krishna doesn't manage to handle it well. He reduces the theme to a mere revenge drama.
The story goes like this: Kali (Prabhu) is the King of Bejawada (Vijayawada). He is a good man and even the politicians fear him and seek his help to further their political ambitions.

Kali has a trusted lieutenant, Vijay Krishna (Mukul Dev). Kali's younger brother Shankar (Abhimanyu Singh) is envious of the clout and popularity of Vijay Krishna. Shankar also has his own political ambitions and eyes the seat of his brother Kali.
Shankar gets his brother Kali killed and puts the blame on Vijay Krishna. He himself sits in the chair of his brother Kali but is not happy.
Shankar now wants to eliminate Vijay Krishna as well. So he sets his goons after Vijay Krishna and succeeds in getting him killed.

Vijay's younger brother Jaya Krishna (Ajay) does not want the youngest brother Siva Krishna (Naga Chaitanya) to get involved in the politics. Therefore he himself sets out to take revenge from Shankar.
Prabhu does a neat job. Subhaleka Sudhakar puts in an average performance. Naga Chaitanya is not entirely convincing in the role of a tough gangster. He just manages to do an average job.
Mukul Dev is okay. Abhimanyu Singh does not show any sort of emotions. Ajay is okay and so is Kota. Ahuti Prasad as the top cop fails to impress.

The comedy track of Brahmanandam and MS Narayana falls flat. There is not much romance between the hero Naga Chaitanya and the heroine Amala Paul.
There are very few positives in the film. Prabhu in the role of Kali is one. Other than that there is noting much to write home about.
Bejawada is a poorly-written story with a very weak screenplay and direction. The film fails on several counts and ends up as a big disappointment for the audiences.
The title Bejawada is a misnomer as the film hardly deals with the real faction politics of Bejawada. The film is a simple revenge drama and that too, way below average.