Vinaya Vidheya Rama movie review: Too much action, too little story

Cast: Ram Charan, Kiara Advani, Prashanth, Sneha, Vivek Oberoi, Aryan Rajesh
Director: Boyapati Sreenu

Tollywood and Telugu film fans wait for the Sankranti holidays, when some of the year’s biggest films are released. One of them is Ram Charan’s big-ticket ‘Vinaya Vidheya Rama’. This is the first time Boyapati Sreenu is directing Charan, and the combination has created a big buzz. Kiara Advani is the female lead in the high-budget film produced by D.V.V. Danayya.

Rama (Ram Charan) is an orphan and is raised by four orphans (Prashanth, Aryan Rajesh, Madhunandan and Ravi Varma). They consider themselves brothers, and Ram sacrifices his studies for their sake. His elder brother (Prashanth) is an IAS officer and conducts a difficult election and is transferred to Bihar where Raja Munnabhai (Vivek Oberoi) is the powerful mafia leader. Ram’s brother wants to hold fair elections and faces trouble from Munnabhai. This sets the stage for the rest of the film.

Boyapati Sreenu is known for his typical commercial formula films, into which he kneads a lot of action but has a story to tell. With Vinaya Vidheya Rama, he loses the story and concentrates on action.

In one scene, the protagonist beheads some goons and vultures fly away with the heads. The villains run after the vultures to get back the heads. This, when Telugu film-makers are exploring innovative subjects.

The film does not have much of a story, What it has, it stretches beyond the incredible.

One wonders how Ram Charan accepted Vinaya Vidheya Rama when he tried a new genre like ‘Rangasthalam’ and got so much appreciation.

When it comes to performances, Ram Charan does is best as an action star. He doesn’t have much acting to do becasue there is so much violence. He has taken utmost care with the stories of his recent films, one wonders how he leaves it entirely to Boyapati with this film.

Kiara Advani appears only in the songs and a couple of scenes. Sneha justifies her good role. Prashanth is seen in a Telugu film after a long time and does a neat job. Hema’s cameo is irritating. The ‘pelli choopulu’ scene somehow provides laughs but Prudhvi’s comedy is bad. Vivek Oberoi is okay as the villain.

Devi Sri Prasad’s songs are ordinary as is the background music. The dialogues have a mass appeal and pleases Ram Charan’s fans. The film has two cinematographers, Arthur A. Wilson and Rishi Punjabi, and it works well.

‘Vinaya Vidheya Rama’ doesn’t have a single scene that appeals or is interesting, it is just exaggerated action and an empty story.