Movie review 'Rudratandava': Lacks elements of a long runner, but shines before it fades away
Director: Guru Deshpande
Cast: Chiranjeevi Sarja, Radhika, Ravishankar, Girish Karnad, Chikkanna, Madarangi Krishna, Kumar Govind
Ratings: 3 stars
After romance, ‘revenge’ is definitely the best selling formula for any commercial movie across the globe, and Rudratandava has all the basic things for that minimum return guarantee movie. ‘Picking’ the right movie, for the remake the director has made it without disturbing the essence of the original and brilliantly tailoring it with the native angle. Like romance, revenge has universal acceptability which connects the audience right till the end for that ‘relief’ when the hero, usually an underdog outsmarts and fights the villain setting up for that final showdown.
Chiranjeevi Sarja, after his huge success of Chandralekha he plays the protagonist in Rudratandava with a strong family bondage which sets the sentimental tone with father-son drama embroiled with a mafia gangster.
A retired employee played by the senior artist Girish Karnad is content with his two sons, elder, an upright government officer with the mines and geology department and the youngest who prefers to stay away from trouble for a risk free life while running a small mobile business. True to its original Pandiya Nadu, Guru Deshpande does the best with his casting including the villain portrayed by Ravi Shankar who yet again does an outstanding job especially with his natural Telugu accent which falls in line with Kolar being the epicentre of the storyline.
A special mention goes to Radhika, who looks simply gorgeous and her elegant glamorous avatar easily puts most of the present prospects in the business to shame. However, she has nothing major to offer in respect of performance but for looking awesome as a teacher draped in saree and to dance along with the hero in a couple of songs and fewer scenes. Rudratandava is not of ‘those’ typical ones wherein the hero just goes after the villain. It has the right blend of drama in terms of father-son relationship, struggle against the system (mining mafia), a bit of humour and glamour. However, considering Rajahuli, Rudratandava lacks the elements of a long runner, but will shine before it fades away.
