Review for RADHE SHYAM:
•Language: MALAYALAM DUBBED.
•Duration: 02 Hours 18 Minutes.
•Genre: PERIOD ROMANTIC DRAMA.
•REVIEW BY ARUNJYOTHI.R
• POSITIVES:
1: PERFORMANCE OF ACTORS.
2: STORY
3: SONGS AND BACKGROUND SCORE.
4: CINEMATOGRAPHY.
5: PRODUCTION DESIGNS.
6: EDITING.
• NEGATIVES:
1: DIRECTION
2: WORST SCREENPLAY
3: DRAMATIC DIALOGUES
•ONE WORD: A Soulless Romantic Flick.
•STORY IDEA:
The plot of the story revolves around Vikramaditya (Prabhas) and Prerana ( Pooja Hedge). Vikramaditya is a world-famous palmist and Prerana is a doctor and the story is set in the backdrop of Europe in 1970. Vikramaditya is a flirtatious man and he dates several women but does not fall in love. He is a strong believer in stars, fate and destiny and enjoys every moment of his life. But Prerana is a nonbeliever and she believes in science more than destiny and fate. So soon both of them will meet each other and what happens when their paths cross and what fate and what destiny is waiting for them is the rest of the story.
•ANALYSIS INTO DIRECTION, STORY, SCREENPLAY & DIALOGUES:
Radhe Shyam is written and directed by Radha Krishna Kumar and produced by Bhushan Kumar (Hindi), Vamsi Pramod and Praseedha (Telugu). The film is produced by T-Series Film and UV Creations. The film is distributed by AA Films (Hindi), Red Giant Movies (Tamil) and RD Illuminations (Malayalam). With a running time of 136 minutes, the film is running in theatres with 100 percent occupancy.
A good story spoiled by the weak screenplay and poor making and that’s how I will define Radhe Shyam. The story written by Radha Krishna Kumar was having the potential for a fascinating romantic thriller but the way he had written the screenplay and the strategies he had used in direction had gone overdramatic. The film was not having a life, it was simply moving with some predictable situations and the leading incidents which unfold the story was not giving an engaging experience. Both the first half and the second half got dragged, it was boring in many areas and was testing my patience. The story was good but the screenplay was not written effectively, in some areas a mysterious feel was brought. For example, the antagonist predicting the future of the main character was giving some exciting moments but those elements were not used appropriately. A mysterious feel was maintained towards the end but the shoddy way of making and the circumstances that connect the second half made my viewing experience dull.
Sometimes true love will have the power to heal anything. Also, love may change the fate of someone and this ideology is what the film is communicating to the viewers. So how does the film follow this aspect and did the making and writing have harmonized with this concept, the answer is a big no. The concept was having the strength for a powerful script but the conversion from the story to the screenplay was lacking depth. The slowly packed making was killing the story, continuity was missing in several parts and character development was also average. From the very beginning, the film was struggling to have a good pace, the scenes were scattered and the predictability in storytelling was making the theatre experience less engaging. The twist and surprise towards the end can be easily understood and the sacrifices made by the central characters don’t make any kind of logic and at the end it was melodramatic. The entire film was filled with many cliches, some of them were unbearable, how the hero and heroine falling in love after a flirtatious relationship was not at all having any kind of solid explanations.
It’s a romantic movie so there should be logical reasoning but Radhe Shyam was forgetting to give those. How the hero and heroine fall in love was shown without any depth, what makes their love strong was not having a soul and in the end, how they overcome the challenges in front of them to live happily was made amateurish. Destiny plays a vital role in the film so what’s the destiny of these couples and does they have a fate to live together was focused more but the unstable way of direction and the cliched writing was not giving anything new for my viewing experience. All these scenes were making me bored and from the second half, I was losing interest in watching the film. The emotional scenes in the film were ridiculous, every love story will have some chapter of pain and the love story of Radhe Shyam also has it but sadly it failed to create an impact. It will be tough for the audience to connect with the premise, I was not able to attach with the imagination of the writer and his method in the direction was also not justifying for a budget of 300 Crores. The ending was crammed with many graphical works, a big tsunami was brought and a large ship was fetched to make the climax but it was not having the energy to make an impression.
- PERFORMANCE OF ACTORS:
The casting of Radhe Shyan includes Prabhas, Pooja Hedge, Krishnam Raju, Jagapathi Babu, Sachin Khedekar, Priyadarshi Pulikonda, Jayaram, Murali Sharma and Kunaal Roy Kapur and many more.
Radhe Shyam is all about the performance of Prabhas and Pooja Hedge, they are the backbone of the movie. The performance given by both of them was extraordinary and both shared wonderful romantic chemistry. Prabhas plays the role of Vikramaditya who is a famous palmist and he has given his best with all effort. His personality as Vikramaditya was alluring, after a long time I was also happy to see his innocence and his glowing smile. The first half was compressed with his appealing attitude and also his lovely romance was all spread on the first part so his charming attitude was unravelling many joyous moments. His flirtatious mind and his approach towards gorgeous women were lovely and he nailed it through the enthusiastic looks. Not just the romance Prabhas had also done a great job on bringing intense facial expressions. When the plot touches on the serious areas his whole behaviour changes, we can see a serious Prabhas. As a Palmist how Prabhas predicts destiny and how he understands the fate of someone was acted out amazingly. In those types of scenes, his behavioural changes and the way he tries to find out someone’s destiny was interesting to watch. The confidence and determined mind of a Palmist were undertaken authentically by Prabhas and his outlook on that scene also makes it more attractive. How he falls in love and how he expresses it was also pleasant to watch, so the romantic scenes with Pooja Hedge were lifting the film to deliver the proper feel. There are few action sequences in the end and Prabhas has done a satisfying job. The ship scene and the tsunami scenes were intriguing to watch and how Prabhas movements to save the loved one from the sinking ship was exciting to watch. So overall Radhe Shyam is one of the fine works of Prabhas, his romance and dazzling personality with the spontaneous powerful voice with flawless dialogue delivery had made the character Vikramaditya an interesting one.
Pooja Hedge as Prerana plays the role of a doctor. She was insanely gorgeous, her beautiful eyes and the attractive smile were making my mind go crazy. It was hard to take my eyes from the screen whenever she appeared, the screen presence was enchanting because of her beauty. The smile of Pooja Hedge is hard to explain because it was so natural and one will surely fall in love with it. Pooja Hedge’s facial expressions were coming out stunningly and depending on the type of situation she gives the right one. Her innocence with the facial expressions was delightful to watch, the attitude of Pooja Hedge was precise. As a lover, the way she expresses her feelings was fantastic and along with it, she gives the best timing in delivering the dialogue. Pooja Hedge did a remarkable job in the emotional scenes, her tears and her pain also her fear was giving a proper connection so that I was able to inherit those emotions.
- MUSIC AND BACKGROUND SCORE:
The musical composition of the film is composed by Justin Prabhakaran and the background score is tuned by S. Thaman. There are three beautiful songs in the soundtrack and each of them is delightful to hear and offers many particular emotions. The song called “Kaanaakkare” is now on my favourite top list because whenever I hear the song the tune and the lyrics will give me a happy feeling. The song had the power to make my mind and thoughts refreshing and the song at the end made me smile. The vibe which I used to get through the song is awesome. Also, the song reminded me of many beautiful memories. The vocals of Nihal Sadiq and Harini Ivaturi make the song different and the lyrics of Joe Paul are catchy. The next song called “Malarodu Saayame” sung by Sooraj Santhosh was melodious. His voice was dominating all over and the various pitches and the high notes were charming to hear and the theatre experience was creating the romantic mood. The lyrics by Joe Paul were matching the scenarios and the flute sound in the song was making my mind cool. The final song called “Swapnadoorame” sung by Sathya Prakash was given a chilling mood, an exploration to get into a new place was properly given by the song, the travelling mood was standing high on the song. The singing by the chorus was superb and the beats of the song were also pleasing. So overall the musical composition by Justin Prabhakaran was amazing, I enjoyed every song and it’s one of his best musical works.
The background score tuned by S. Thaman was melodic, the background score was on a predominant level and every background score was matching for the scenarios. It’s a romantic film so how the background score has helped to lift the romantic scene makes the work of S. Thaman special. He was having a clear vision of what tune should be brought so he had placed the accurate tunes according to the type of scene and at the end, his perception was harmonizing to give the right feelings. The romantic scenes were building the precise momentum and the sensation which we can feel through the tunes was blowing my mind. When the movie is inching towards the end the background score was building the right amount of anxiety. What is the destiny of the Vikramaditya and Prerana will make us tensed so to create this mood the background score was giving the sense of curiosity and eagerness. So the background score had never gone wrong, an off-balance was never felt in the 136 minutes of the film
- TECHNICAL ASPECTS:
The budget of Radhe Shyam is around 350 Crores, it’s a movie that is made on a massive budget so the technical aspects of the film should have ethical quality and considering the budget the technicality of the film was looking richer. The cinematography of Manoj Paramahamsa was wonderful, every frame and each shot was having the signature of a seer cinematographer. The quality of the frames and the types of shots was topnotch, it was more like a visual treat. The beauty of Europe was captured beautifully, the periodical frames were pointing out the culture of 1970. The entire camera work was having a supreme strength to back up the script, the chosen location and the environment in which the movie travels was interesting to watch. The climax portion was shot cleverly so that one will feel the power of quality visuals, the whole climax was creating a sense of enthusiasm. I am sure that in the climax the viewers will get a feel of eager interest to know what is next because the visuals were conquering the mind and it will be difficult to take your eyes from the screen. The closeup shots were hypnotizing, it will carry our mind to their presence. The romantic faces and looks of Prabhas and Pooja Hedge were overwhelming, their facial expressions, their cute looks and their melting smile was shot magically and it will give a pleasant smile to our face. The various types of shots need special mention, the wide-angle frames were stunning and the frames looked classy on the big screen. Most of the wide-angle frames were seen on the songs and it helped to set the romantic surrounding. The work done by the CGI department was satisfying and it was synchronized for the frames and shots of Manoj Paramahamsa. The graphics and the visuals looked standard, the scenes of the sea and the ship were filled with many CGI works and the visuals looked promising. So I would say that the cinematography of Manoj Paramahamsa was like taking us into the life of Vikramaditya and Prerana. The editing by Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao was not having any mismatching issues, the duration of the film was accurate and he had trimmed to the correct timings. The cuts were at the correct place and the transition from one scene to another was flawlessly synched. The colour-grading was looking great, especially for the songs, those grading had given more appeal. The production quality of the film is outstanding, whoever designed it deserves a big thumbs up. The selected locations of Italy and Georgia had given a more attractive feel also the Hyderabad locations were approximating for the script. The entire set was looking real and the style of 1970 was brought to the screen effectively. The works of the Art Department were authentic, the arrangement they had made to bring back 1970 looked natural. None of the sets had given any artificial feel, the ship scenes at the end had detailed arrangements and the plan of the structure had worked out well as per the script.
- CONCLUSION:
So overall to conclude Radhe Shyam had given me a disappointing cinematic experience because of the pathetic screenplay and the mediocre making was also giving me a boring theatre experience. The performance of Prabhas and Pooja Hedge is watchable but still, I won’t recommend this overdramatic film to anyone so watch the film at your own risk.
- FINAL VERDICT: BELOW AVERAGE
- FINAL RATING: 1.5/5
