Review: Ongole Githa - makes a dud
What happens when a director known for films like 'Bommarillu', 'Parugu' and 'Orange' prefers and handles a subject that he is just not known for?
'Ongole Githa' is the product that he delivers in the end- clich'd throughout and predictable till the end.
A 10 plus-year-old kid arrives at a market yard dreaming to control it one day. He calls himself as White and starts operating in the yard with help from Pavuram (Kishore Das).
Cut to 20 plus-year-old White (Ram), the most respected mirchi trader at the yard next to the chairman Aadikesavulu (Prakash Raj). Meanwhile, MLA Ahuti Prasad is keen on relocating the yard to another place for his personal interests and plans to bribe Adikesavulu with a huge ransom, but he resists it.
Angered by it the MLA with his power proposes White as the next chairman of the yard. With no options left, Aadikesavulu shows his true colours to the MLA and a series of incidents lead the former to get hold of his position, but in return he is asked by White to give his daughter Sandhya (Kriti Kartbhanda) to him.
Against Sandhya's wishes the engagement takes place. However, Aadikesavulu is hell bent on stopping the marriage and hatches a plan to show White in poor light. White counters it before Aadikesavulu gets to know his true identity. What next?
The biggest undoing of the film is that falls flat from being a mass entertainer which it tries too hard. It's a tried and tested formula and Bhaskar knows his limitations, hence to bring the novelty element he chooses the backdrop of a yard.
In the process he uses it deftly with the help of his cameraman. However, he fails in the department of writing. If the story is pale and outdated, there's nothing to boast about the narration. It meanders and close to two hours 45 minutes makes the matter worse.
With multiple characters arises multiple emotions and Bhaskar fails to establish solid emotional connectivity between White and his father Narayana (Prabhu).
And for a change, though the filmmaker showcases that it's just White who is after Sandhya, her sudden shift in the gears in the last-minute is tough to digest.
If Bhaskar's earlier films had sequences that still etch in the memory of audience, there are none here. In fact some portions where White along with Pavuram barge into Sandhya's house were completely uncalled for.
Some positives include the beautifully shot Ra Chilaka song and the Thikkapuram village episode where villagers are known for their idiosyncrasies.
Performance wise, while Ram and Kriti do more than their bit to the roles, Bhaskar's regular, Prakash Raj, who's been there and done that, gets the most significant character and the actor lives up to his reputation by bringing out the best in him, but, like the lead stars, he is letdown by the weak script.
A character with traits of his own, Bhaskar makes Raj go full Monty for at least four times in the film. TV personality Kishore Das has a substantial role, but fails to leave an impact.
Abhimanyu Singh's lack of expressions comes in as a blessing in disguise for the filmmaker to throw a few laughs here and there.
However, that spark which lightens the screen when it comes to performances is missing in the film. On the whole, the film is far away from the product that it was promised to be. For some films things never fall in place and 'Ongole Githa' is one such.
News Posted: 2 February, 2013
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