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Power Star Pawan Kalyan is back with ‘Cameraman Ganga tho Rambabu’ after scoring a massive hit this year in the form of ‘Gabbar Singh’. The movie has been directed by Puri Jagan and the film has released in a massive way across the world today. Let us see how the film is.

Story :

Rambabu ( Pawan Kalyan ) is a socially responsible guy who earns a living as a mechanic. He reacts to news reports of atrocities and personally goes to punish the offenders. This fire and passion is noticed by Ganga (Tamanna), who then motivates and convinces him to join a Tv channel as a journalist. Rambabu agrees and hops on board a TV channel owned by Dharmavarapu Subrahmanyam.

During his work, he comes across Jawahar Naidu (Kota Srinivasa Rao), an opposition party leader and ex CM, who is hell bent on reclaiming the CM’s chair. His son (played by Prakash Raj) is an evil force and Rambabu decides to take him on.

As the proxy battle turns ugly, the fight between Rambabu and Prakash Raj assumes statewide significance. Rambabu must now muster all his courage and his skills of persuasion to rally the people and prevent the divisive force of Prakash Raj from taking over.

How Rambabu achieves this forms the rest of the story.

Plus Points :

Pawan Kalyan has done a superb job in this movie and he shoulders the movie admirably well. His sheer force and powerful screen presence is the biggest asset for the movie and Puri Jagan’s powerful political dialogues have worked well when uttered by Pawan Kalyan. He has also showcased his humorous side quite well.

In the current political climate of the state, some dialogues will strike a chord. For example, “Aadiki dhoola ekkuvai kurchi ekkithe meeku dhoola teeripoddi” etc. evoked a superb response from viewers.

Tamanna looks gorgeous. She only looks gorgeous (More on this later). Prakash Raj and Kota Srinivasa Rao have done a good job as the evil politicians. Nasser is dignified as Chief Minister Reddy. Tanikella Bharani is alright. Brahmanandam and Ali bring a few laughs as TV channel creative heads.

The film’s second half is a major asset, with powerful political elements and highly charged emotional sequences. The way Pawan rallies the youth of the state, the way he counters Prakash Raj and speaks about National Integration etc are highly entertaining.

The comedy scene in the second half where Pawan and Brahmanandam read the news jointly had crowds in splits of laughter.

Some scenes between Pawan and Tamanna have come out well, especially where Pawan tries to be timid and shy on purpose.

The pre-climax episodes will give great cheer to Pawan’s fans and Mani Sharma’s background score works like a charm.

Minus Points :

As I said earlier, Tamanna looks gorgeous in the movie but her characterization is very disappointing. One wonders why women in Puri Jagan’s films have to have extreme personalities. Ganga’s character is way too loud and actually gets on your nerves at times.

Some scenes should have been toned down. Like the scene where Prakash Raj and his MLA’s feel a tremor in the building towards the end. Also, there is no substance in the plot. But for Pawan’s sheer magnetism and some good dialogues in places, this movie has nothing in terms of story.

All the characters are superficial. Prakash Raj’s character in particular had great scope for picturization as a cunning and evil politician, but Puri only scrapes the surface. Also, there is no strong motive for Prakash Raj to betray his father as both of them are on good terms and both want to see Prakash Raj as the CM.

The first half could have been more entertaining. Gabriela is irritating as a TV channel boss.

Technical Aspects :

Mani Sharma’s background score is a major asset for the movie, especially in the second half and pre-climax scenes. But his songs are not too good. Dialogues are very nice in places. Editing is neat overall, but could have been crisper in the first half.

Fights have been shot well and they suited Pawan well. Cinematography is good. Puri Jagan’s direction is not too impressive. It is about time he spends more time (pun intended) on the development of characters in the story.

Verdict :

‘Cameraman Ganga tho Rambabu’ is a movie that works primarily due to Pawan Kalyan’s sheer force and powerful on-screen presence. A good second half, solid punch dialogues and a terrific performance from Pawan elevate the movie. Better script and more involving characters would have helped the movie. The film will be a great watch for those who are interested in politics, and a decent one for regular movie lovers.

123telugu.com Rating – 3.25/5

Reviewed by Mahesh S Koneru

Click Here For ‘CMGR’ Telugu Review

Click Here For ‘Box Office Babu rao Puri Jagannadh interview’

Legend:

5 – Flawless
4 – Must Watch
3 – One Time Watch
2 – Wait for the DVD
1 – Stay Away