Cast: Mahesh Babu, Kajal Agarwal, Samantha, Sathyaraj, Rao Ramesh, Revathi and Jayasudha
Director: Srikanth Addala
A rich industrialist (Sathyaraj) in Vijayawada lives in a big house with his brother-in-laws, brothers and other family members. Its one big happy family. His ambition is to live with all his family members and celebrate festivals till the end. His son (Mahesh Babu) follows in his father’s footsteps. His brother-in-law and business partner (Rao Ramesh) is depressed as he is never highlighted in any function. He wants Mahesh Babu to marry his daughter (Pranitha).
Kasi (Kajal Aggarwal) enters the family and falls in love with Mahesh Babu. Rao Ramesh thus shows his displeasure on Mahesh Babu and his father Sathyaraj. The family starts falling apart and how Mahesh Babu unites the family with the help of Samantha is the crux of the story. Director Srikanth Addala has created his own niche in Tollywood with his kind of films. His stories are related to the society and most of his characters are lively. He has taken a good story and theme, that families should be united and no one is alone.
While Srikanth’s idea is good, he hasn’t executed it well, it’s one big family function after another. The director has established all the characters and also shows the relationship between a father and son nicely. But the problem is that he hasn’t been able to show the family emotions properly. The second half of Brahmotsavam is completely focused on the roots, where the son travels to find his earlier seven generations. His idea is good, but his narration should have been more interesting.
When it comes to performance, Mahesh Babu steals the show. Actually he is the saving grace of the film. He is looking younger and more handsome than ever. He has already proved that he is good at emotional scenes and in this one too he has delivered, especially in the interval and climax scenes. The chemistry between Kajal and Samantha too has come out very well. The other two actors who gave given superb performances are Sathyaraj and Rao Ramesh.
Rao Ramesh plays a very important role, and his character’s frustration has come out very well. Vennela Kishore appears in a brief role and gets a few laughs. Of the two leading ladies, Kajal Aggarwal has played a mature role, that of a modern, strong and individual thinking girl. She is also looking beautiful and glamorous. Samantha, who comes in the second half, is as good. Among the many other actors, Jayasudha and Revathi have some good scenes. The dialogues are impressive, but one should concentrate to understand them.
The soul of the movie is cinematographer Ratnavelu. He is one of India’s finest cinematographer and has done a superlative job here, especially the way he has shown the celebrations. Thota Tharani’s art work also should be mentioned as he has created Vijayawada with his sets. Micky J. Mayer’s music is average and some of the songs are mistimed. The background music by Gopi Sunder is also just average.
Brahmotsavam is good on paper, but the execution is not interesting. There is no big drama, except celebrations all the time, and director Srikanth Addala has failed to cash in on the great star cast he had. The narration is very slow and at times downright boring. The fate of Brahmotsavam depends on how the family audiences receive it.
