Rangasthalam (2018) - nostalgic telugu nativity of 80s

Rangasthalam (2018) –    rating (4/5)

Cast : Ram Charan Tej, Jagapathy Babu, Aadhi Pinisetty, Prakash Raj, Samantha

Director : Sukumar

Review by Zulfiqar

            Revolution is a never ending relish-of-a-concept in movies. But with Telugu movie industry having got inclined to answer to the whims of commercial box office returns with formulaic, mindless romances, the real stories and concepts have been pushed to the background. There are only a few scattered telugu movies in the last 10 years, which would define the advances made in the industry. A political drama like ‘prasthanam’, fantastical tale with technical flamboyance as in ‘bahubali’, dejected lover’s daring reasoning of his feelings in ‘Arjun Reddy’, recent psychological thriller ‘awe’ and a few more probably.

            Sukumar’s Rangasthalam belongs to this meager cluster of movies, which matter much to make a wave of change in the way of filmmaking and storytelling.

            Rangasthalam not only has every colour in its palette, but also dishes out a fine rainbow of final image. This is resplendent in just not in its vision, but in evoking thought and moving the chords of emotion. It is chockablock with great performances, acute technical details, fine music and even occasional strong moments of heroism.

            The movie is set in the rural life of 80s in a fictional village, named Rangasthalam. A partially deaf irrigation-motor runner, Chittibabu (Ran Charan Tej), gets in the eye of a storm of the village’s rebellion against the feudal and oppressive landlord called President Garu, whose real name is Phanindra Bhupathy (Jagapathy Babu). The rebellion is started by Chitti babu’s elder brother, Kumar Babu (Aadhi Pinisetty), who resorts to run against Phanindra Bhupathy in elections, after seeing the whole village debt ridden and exploited by the cruel and tyrannical President. Chittibabu stands behind his brother like a rock when he is invited by the opposition party’s leader, Dakshina Murthy (Prakash Raj), to run as his candidate. The movie starts with Dakshina Murthy meeting a grave accident, while Chittibabu rides on his bicycle to meet him. the movie flashbacks from there to the earlier events.

            The movie’s main focus is on the rural feudalism in 80s Andhra, which had caste-distinction and tyrannical politics. The movie though long at 2 hours and 50 minutes doesn’t even has a single dragging moment with its scenic locales, catchy numbers and nativity laden dialogue and humor. The movie’s main strength comes from the acting talent, primary of them, the lead – Ram Charan Tej.

            Ram Charan Tej acts his career best role with a diligence and professionalism, very hard to find in modern Telugu cinema. He has been professional in Magadheera and Dhruva, getting his body in shape for the role. But here he hones his acting chops. In rangasthalam, as the villager, he fits the bill with his walk and talk. He has a certain swag with great body language carrying off the role with a great ease. He makes chemistry work with everyone in the cast starting from the female lead, Samantha to his family members (aadhi Pinisetty, Naresh), village friends and many other characters. He is divine in the moments where he tries to recuperate an invalid, servicing him in every possible way. As Chittibabu, this is his crowning moment, in his film career.

            Aadhi Pinisetty is a great second fiddle fitting his role as an innocent and morally straight brother. Samantha does a marvelous village belle transformation for her role as Ramalakshmi, love interest of the lead. The tutelage of Sukumar could be clearly seen in the way she looks innocent and also with odd facial expressions, making her more natural. The supporting cast of Jagapathy babu, Anasuya, Prakash Raj give apt performances in line with the spirit of the movie.

            Art Direction by S Rama Krishna and Monica Niggotre draws out a nostalgic canvass with rural architecture, making the characters look more plausible. Rathnavelu’s cinematography has observational angles. Starting from the interiors of the huts, equipments on fields to the atmosphere of the old hospitals with its outdated equipments the movie breathes fresh rural air through the screen onto the audience. The script is greatly aided by a good dialogue writing with Godavari slang giving the village life a more authentic touch. Music by Devi Sri Prasad has a freshness to it and more in line with the story spirit.

            The mark of great direction in this movie could be seen in the way, Sukumar focuses on minor aspects like the setting around the hospital. See, how it is crowded and the hero is seen cooking a meal outdoors. Look at the way, Chittibabu carries his sickle in a knitted bag. Look at the villagers carrying carriages for food in copper boxes. These small things add a lot to the big picture. There is no doubt that Tamil movies too are clinical in this approach. But, while they have shock value, ‘Rangasthalam’ has frank value. Along with that he makes many creative moments like when the lead enters heroine’s home at midnight thinking he isn’t making much noise, while he awakens the whole house.

 Sukumar’s handling of the script and his strong story with the coordination of technical details makes ‘Rangasthalam’ a gem in the recent history of telugu cinema. He doesn’t fall prey to the commercial elements and stays true to the script, which is playing out a potential, moving drama amidst a stage accurately set. The professionalism involved may bear fruit and give out more such examples. Hoping many such movies from him and this part of the global cinema.