Masala Review

Behind the Movie Masala: Stricken with a row of flops, both heroes Venkatesh and Ram require a strong hit. They relied on a proven Bollywood subject of ‘Bol Bachchan’ for this remake in the hands of director K Vijaya Bhaskar. Let us see, how good was this remake film offered to us by Suresh Babu and Sravanti Ravikishore?

In the Movie Masala: Story begins with introduction to brother, sister - Rahman (Ram) and Sania (Anjali) losing the house in a legal case. They are forced to live the city and land in the town of Bhimarajapuram with the help of uncle Narayana (MS). In the town, there lives a powerful and most influential man Balaramudu aka Balram (Venkatesh) whose family has fought against British and now this man loving their English. Accidentally, Rahman is introduced as Ram to Balram by Subbu (Ali) in order to save a Hindu temple from the hands of antagonist Naga Raju (Posani). Very soon, Ram becomes a loyal and honest servant to Balram winning the trust. One by one, Ram and Subbu’s Masala Drama Company is forced to fall in a trap of lies introducing a dummy mummy (Kovai Sarala), dupe character of Gay Rahman (Ram) while Eddu Kameshwar Rao (JP), the right hand Balram grows in suspicion. 

Meanwhile, romantic tracks develop between Ram-Balram’s sister Meenakshi (Shazahn Padamsee) and Balram-Ram’s sister Sania aka Saritha. What is the climax? How Balram reacted to the cheating game played by Rahman and Subbu? 

Values of the Movie Masala: Being a Makki-Ki-Makki remake of Hindi hit ‘Bol Bachchan,’ director K Vijaya Bhaskar took care in not to miss the Telugu nativity. Dialogues written by Anil Ravipudi for Butler English of Venkatesh stood as the central highlight of the film. Comedy portions are dealt well by Vijaya Bhaskar only in parts. Screenplay was overall neat. Direction could have been better in pre-Interval and climax portions. I Andrew’s cinematography was bright while editing by MR Varma was crisp n sharp. SS Thaman’s music sounded good and catchy for title song, ‘Ninu Choodani’ and ‘Meenakshi’ songs. Production values of Suresh Babu and Ravikishore are reputable. 

Performance wise, Venkatesh is the power house of ‘Masala’ tickling the fun bone with butler English. In action scenes, both Venky and Ram gelled well. Ram has got a character with two shades. One of honest and humble employee Ram and other one is a gay Rahman. He showed a visible contrast handling the both to match his energy levels. Anjali was as usual cute and homely. Shazahn Padamsee is disfigured and does not get a meaty role. JP’s timing was ‘Horribly’ Superb as a side kick to Venky. Kovai Sarala was over reactive. Into the rest of artists like MS, Ali, Suman Shetty, Posani etc did well.

Out of the Movie Masala: Exactly like the original ‘Bola Bachchan,’ even this ‘Masala’ is made without much of the story. It’s the pace in narration and strong comedy episodes drove the movie. Vijaya Bhaskar was not on par with Rohit Shetty yet this flick is surely bearable and worth watching once. If at all, second half was dealt better then ‘Masala’ could have become a sure shot blockbuster. Result is, ‘Masala’ now stands as an average film with good first half and below average second half. Kovai Sarala’s item dances was painful for all types of audience. 

With lot of empty space at BO, the responsibility lies on the shoulders of Venkatesh’s English and Ram’s all-round performance to make ‘Masala,’ a safe project. Good openings are expected due to alert promotions made by entire casting of the film. For B and C centers public, ‘Masala’ is an all right film but for Metros, it’s on the other side. Especially, for those who haven’t watched ‘Bol Bachchan,’ this one can be a Paisa Vasool.

Cinejosh Verdict of Masala: Audience…Watch This for Venky’s IMAX Performance

                                              Cinejosh Rating: 3

                                                                            Reviewed by Srivaas