Rangasthalam movie review: Ram Charan is back with the much awaited rustic entertainer Rangasthalam helmed by Sukumar. Starring Samantha Akkineni as the leading lady, the film had garnered huge buzz ahead of the release for more than one reasons. The story is set in the 80’s where Chittibabu (Ram Charan), a hearing-impaired engineer has gained popularity in the village for his knack of fixing machines. The village is represented by a corrupt leader Phanindra Bhupati (Jagapathi Babu) who has been the leader for Rangasthalam for the past 30 years. He slaughters anyone who questions his dictatorship, hence the village is scared of him. There is a series of incidents and Kumar Babu (Adi Pinisetty), Chittibabu’s Dubai returned brother revolts against Bhupathi and files his nominations in the upcoming election. Consequence leading to Kumar’s step is dreadful and Chittibabu helps him deal with these results.
Director Sukumar has created the perfect 80’s setting but in the midst, he lost his focus on the main plot. Sukumar does full justice to create the perfect 80’s setting. Even his characters don’t look out of place. Be it the diction, the costumes or their body language, Rangasthalam is a visual treat. But somehow Sukumar’s characters have failed to deliver on the emotion. In spite of ample scopes, the director fails to deliver on the emotional thread and audiences to end up connecting to the film.
The first half outshines the second. The first half showcases some nice chemistry between Charan and Samantha, the songs are hummable and of course, the settings add an extra spark to them. But in spite of setting up the first half brilliantly, the director does not live up to the curiosity and anxiousness in the second half. After the intermission, some typical sentimental scenes kill the spice of the second half and the film ends up looking dragged.
But in spite of all the flaws, Ram Charan makes up for it with his brilliant performance. His stellar performance and the director’s ability to induce the flavour of the 80’s makes the film a watchable affair. The songs surely add some extra value to the film but a dragged second half with unnecessary sentimental scenes is a downer.