sri rama rajyam

Look at the the two photos above. The top one was from lavakusa  and bottom one from rama rajyam. both the photos tell you that large sea of  gap between the original and  the remake.

With all due respect and honour to Sri Bapu I tell you folks who read this review that SRI RAMA RAJYAM is a  mockery of lord sri rama.  Perhaps the film maker was in the deep agony of his dearest friends untimely demise. The famous bapu touch is clearly missing. Except for few sparks here and there the film made me very uncomfortable to sit for two long hours,.

My mother rarely watches  movies. She is a ram  devotee and reading Ramayana  is one  of her daily  activities. Umpteen number of times when iam depressed she always encouraged me with verses of Ramayana.. Myself while teaching social made it a compulsory trait to quote Ramayana. I grew up listening to Ramayana tales from elders, reading it in chandamama and trying to understand a great timeless marvel. Even in graduation days C.Rajagopalacharis English version of Ramayana accompanied me in various dark hours. Even today in my home lots of Ramayan books texts  are available. Such influence on mankind is never seen and felt . 

And all credit to Sri NTR who played the role of lord sri ram very authentically. Its beyond imagination to imagine some one stepping into his shoes. His son dares and falls.  

Lord sree Ram is shown in very pathetic way in this newer version.Ram is an ideal man for us. In most of the scenes lord sri  Ram appears in devdas shades. And the make up makes this characterization unbearable.Balakrishna never attempts to bring the required  divinity which is very much essential to this       character.  Be it the decision to send sita to forests be it the pathos be it the dual with the kids the actor never rises to the occasion. Such was the scenario that  i wanted to run away every time sree ram appeared on the screen.

Its sad  that a movie maker of such standards sinks into a hurry some movie. yes everything is hurried. such movies come rarely and every care should be taken to make it a pleasant memory.   I never understood the graphic quotient in this movie. Of all the mythologies this was the one which requires less graphic effort. Even fire in yagams is graphically presented and it appears comical. The settings the visuals the taking all are mediocre. with a technology available at this stage this  movies comes nowhere to the original which was made with a very low technological resources compared to this day.  Its hard to believe this same director directed Sampoorna Ramyanam and who characterizes his films taking  metaphors from Ramayana. Its shocking to see that the film maker who changed the Telugu movie scenario with his path breaking Sakshi depend on graphics and  sets.This story happen in forest and why the movie maker opted for such silly graphics.Few months back my son watched sagara sangamam in awe and today he seemed to be out of place.

Sad to see music composer of stature illayraja come with such stuff. Definitely we need not compare with the classic. But here is an ample chance to create divine renditions. Except for the last song all others never make you feel holy or divine. Music and Ramayana are inseparable. And this film's music makes you sick.

No try was made to match the standards. Definitely liberties are taken(hanuman staying with sita). Emotions are never properly played. The entire washer mans episode is hurried. Two characters in Ramayanaare pivotal. Mandara and Tippadu. Even in TV Ramayana utmost care is taken to portray these characters. Here its  again a mere come and go episode.

what more can i say. you are not making a film with some new story. you are making a film on a epic that this entire country  knows from  start to end. you are making a film on a epic that entire country  worships. how careful you should be.

my mother said everything is so  artificial in this movie. yes everything is artificial.people said nayan tara lived the character of sita. well she tried and definitely performed better. and that does not make her performance A rated. she is dignified and carried her part well. Its the kids who played hanuman and lava and kusa and other ashram children lighten the dull proceedings. Even bapus magic was displayed only during that kid part. 

and by the iam writing this the film  is said to be a hit and completed a fifty  day run. people called it a hit. a lot may have visited to get the feel they got years back. and some times hit films need not be good films.  

 i followed the run and of the view that a thought " people are missing something by not watching the movie" is created. yes. you missed two and a half hour time in your life.