Raju Gari Gadhi 2 Movie Review
Raju Gari Gadhi was a successful horror comedy made on a shoestring budget. Its sequel caught the attention with big names like Nagarjuna and Samantha in the star cast. Although the brand name of Raju Gari Gadhi is used, RGG2 is not a sequel to it. The film is a remake of Malayalam movie Pretham.
Story :
Three friends (Ashwin, Kishore, Praveen) buy an old resort that is haunted by a ghost. After convinced that their resort is a haunted one, they seek the help of a mentalist Rudra (Nagarjuna). He comes and finds out that the ghost is Amrutha (Samantha) who is searching for some answers. Rudra with his mindreading skills find the people who are behind Amurtha’s ill fate.
Performances:
Nagarjuna’s styling and screen presence are pretty impressive. He is the main highlight of the film with his spotless performance. It is a very different character for the veteran who breaks the stereotypes yet again playing the character of a mentalist. Samantha has a very brief role, but makes a huge impact in the climax sequence. Ashwin, Praveen and Vennela Kishore are alright in their respective roles. Shakalaka Shankar, Naresh, Rao Ramesh and Abhinaya played other important characters.
Technicalities:
Ohmkar made a few changes to the original script according to Telugu nativity. The major difference is the way he presented the mentalist character. Nagarjuna is full of swag and style as the mentalist. Ohmkar handled the emotional scenes well, but failed to get the comedy right.
Thaman’s background score is spectacular. His score lifted many scenes to another level. Rudra theme and the signature music are pretty impressive. Cinematography is good. Dialogues could have been better. Production values are very good. The film is made on a high budget in spite of genre limitations.
Thumbs Up:
- Nagarjuna
- Samantha
- Climax
Thumbs Down:
- First half
- Poor comedy
Analysis:
People who watched Rajugari Gadhi will be puzzled after watching this film. It is no way related to Raju Gari Gadhi. It is an emotional horror drama with less focus on comedy and horror elements. The comedy and gags that have worked wonders in RGG are totally absent here. There is an attempt at humor but that hardly clicks.
Things start to get interesting after the entry of Nagarjuna’s character. A decent interval episode sets right mood for second half. However, second half doesn’t turn out as expected as there is no horror at all. Movie turns into a mystery affair with Nagarjuna searching for the identity of Samantha.
What happened to Samantha is the core of the story. That is explained in pre climax and climax portions, which stands the major asset of the film. Samantha’s performance during climax will strike a chord with female audience. Basic story and screenplay are taken from Malayalam film Pretham. Main characters are presented in our style.
Although Raju Gari Gadhi doesn’t impress horror or comedy lovers, it turns out to be a watchable fare because of Nagarjuna and Samantha’s performances. Care should have been taken on the first half where there isn’t any flow in the screenplay. Too many jumps and disjointed scenes make it a tedious watch.
Nagarjuna’s entry after fifty minutes gives it the necessary kick and the second half is told in an interesting way to sustain the audiences interest till the end. The film’s content is very average, but the star cast and RGG branding should help it to post decent numbers in its opening weekend.
Verdict: Nag and Sam are the pillars.
