Gayam 2 Movie Review

Director Praveen Sri reportedly narrated an action subject and it impressed Jagapathi Babu so much as it was prepared as a sequel to his career-best action film Gayam. With no second thought he agreed to do the flick. Praveen Sri is a protégé of Ram Gopal Varma. Of course, the action scenes in this film remind us the old film Gayam and the story was perfectly mixed to make everyone believe that the story is a continuation of Gayam. However, what exactly the director wanted to convey to audiences was a big question mark which remain unanswered.

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Story:
Ram (Jagapathi Babu) is a restaurant owner in Bangkok. Ram leads his life happily with his wife Vidya (Vimala Raman) and adopted son Chaitanya. One day, psychopath killers attempt to molest a female worker at Ram’s restaurant. To protect her, Ram shoots them. This rescue turns Ram a hero before the media.

Gurunarayana (Kota Srinivasa Rao) shocks to see Ram who is quite similar to Durga (Jagapathi Babu), an arch-rival, who was declared dead long ago. Gurunarayana’s son Shankar Narayana (Kota Prasad) leaves for Bangkok along with their lawyer saab (Tanikella Bharani) to find out whether he is Ram or Durga. Shankar Narayana kidnaps Chaitanya. This irks Ram and opens up his identity by injuring Shankar Narayana and killing a person just in front of Vidya.

Lawyer Saab takes away Shankar Narayana back to India. Vidya deserts Ram as he concealed his identity that he was once a killer and goon. But the Bangkok police officer of Indian origin (Jeeva) convinces her that Durga turned Ram and leading a normal and peaceful life only to keep himself off from bloodshed. Then Ram reveals his flashback to Vidya. At a time when it is going to be a happy reunion, again Gurunarayana’s men attack Ram and his family and Chaitanya gets badly injured.

In order to put a fullstop to the bloodshed, Ram decides to go to India as Durga and clear off the rivalry with Guru Narayana. He sends Vidya and Chaitu to the police officer’s house and returns to India. What happens next should be seen on-screen.

PERFORMANCE:
As Jagapathi Babu played the role earlier, he doesn’t need a mention about his performance. He has maintained the same tempo and intensity in this film too, despite the fact that the earlier version was released in 1993 (i.e., almost 18 years ago). The ageing factor however could not be hidden as Jagapathi Babu’s aged skin is clearly visible in close-up shots. Vimala Raman is okay in her role. She has shown her oomph, and was very romantic in one song with Jagapathi Babu. She is sensuous and seductive in that song. Kota Prasad has given show stealing performance. Kota Srinivasa Rao and Tanikella Bharani has given their best performance. Other artistes including Harshavardhan, Jeeva, Ravi Kale, have done their justice to their respective roles.

TECHNICAL Values:
Cinematography by Anil Bhandari is adequate, while editing by Praveen Pudi is impressive. Music by Illarayaraja needs a special mention. Though the background score is excellent, the tunes provided for the songs could have be done better if the maestro would have concentrated a little more. Action scenes by Ram-Lakshman are good to watch. Dialogues are good in parts, while screenplay by Rajendra Reddy is the soul of the film. Generally directors from Ram Gopal Varma school, will bring out either a super hit or super flop films. But, Praveen Sri has maintained good grip on the story and Rajendra Reddy supported him with perfect screenplay. However, the director should have used his brain, while bringing out a film. But in this case, it appeared that Praveen Sri straightly lifted a few scenes from a Hollywood film A History of Violence to complete the first half. And the second half is almost similar to Gayam.

ANALYSIS:
The director and producer should be complimented for portraying the present political situation on the screen perfectly and the audiences would definitely equate Kota’s character with KCR in several scenes. Though it is a coincidence, the film had many similarities to the present political turmoil in the state like Telangana stir and others. Though the action scenes in the film are okay, it is just not known what the director exactly wanted to tell the audiences with this film.

Cast: Jagapathi Babu, Vimala Raman, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Tanikella Bharani, Kota Prasad, Ajay, Jeeva, Harshavardhan, Ravi Kale, Tarjan, Raghunatha Reddy, Master Pavan Sriram and others

Credits: Cinematography – Anil Bhandari, Editing – Praveen Pudi, Dialogues – Gandham Nagaraju, Mallu Ravi Reddy, Screenplay – Rajendra Reddy, Art – Dharmendra, Music – Ilayaraja, Presents – Ram Gopal Varma, Producer - Dr Dharmakartha C, Story and direction – Praveen Sri.

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