Rama Banam was released in theatres today. It's one of the major summer releases despite being in direct competition with Virupaksha and Ugram. Since last week's release Agent has been removed from almost all screens, Rama Banam has been able to get a good release.
Plot:
Teenager Vicky runs away to Kolkata after his elder brother Rajaram (Jagapathi Babu) chides him for following the path of violence against Papa Rao (Nasser), the local baddie who wants to ruin the pro-poor food business run by Rajaram. In Kolkata, Vicky (now Gopichand) almost becomes a dreaded gangster.
After Vicky falls in love with Bhairavi (Dimple Hayathi), destiny prods him to return to his estranged brother and sister-in-law (Khushbu Sundar). And now, as the trailer showed, there is a bigger rival waiting to target Rajaram's business. He is GK (Tarun Arora), a chemical foosd manufacturer. You can guess what the rest of the film is all about.
Performances:
Gopichand doesn't sleepwalk through his role. That's the only thing you can say about his performance, aside from the fact that his dialogue delivery is worthy. Generic characterization renders his character ineffective.
Jagapathi Babu is good in the role of an idealistic organic foods entrepreneur. Khushbu Sundar gets just one relevant scene. Wonder what made her take up such a basic, underdeveloped character in the first place. Probably, she read the script of Rama Banam soon after reading the script of Agnyaathavaasi.
Tarun Arora is ridiculously poor. Nasser is the only bad guy who is bearable. Vennela Kishore's feminine comedy is cringe. Ali, Saptagiri, Satya and Get-up Srinu are purely nonsensical.
Technical Departments:
Mickey J Meyer's background score competes with itself to drag down the film. The songs are better in comparison. The cinematography lacks the wow factor. It's not like family entertainers/dramas need amazing cinematography and production design. But in the age of big-scale family films like Varisu (Varasudu in Telugu), some degree of grandeur is expected. The only episode that comes with a semblance of scale is the interval fight in the backdrop of a Narasimha Swamy Temple.
Hits:
Weaving a narrative around organic foods.
A courtroom scene that doesn't last long (fortunately).
Gopichand's sincerity.
Misses:
The embarrassing love track involving the lead pair.
Lacklustre villainy.
Outdated fights.
Predictable scenes.
Vox Verdict: Rama Banam is a thorough misfire. Even if you hate chemically harmful food, you will dislike this artistically harmful adulteration of a film.
Rating: 1.5 / 5
