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Baby Steps for Cheetah, Regular Revenge Drama

APK | September 28, 2007

Rating: **.75 (***** Very Good, **** Good, *** Fair, ** Average, * Bad)

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Cast: Ram Charan, Neha Sharma, Prakashraj, Dharmavarapu, Surya, Pragathi, MS Narayana, Babloo, Ali, Ashish Vidyarthi, Sayaji Shinde, Uttej, Ganesh and Others.
Action: Vijayan.
Art: Chinna.
Cinematography: Shyam K. Naidu.
Editing: Varma.
Lyrics: Sirivennela, Bhaskarabhatla, Kandikonda, Viswa & Rama Jogaiah Sastry.
Music: Mani Sharma.
Story, Screenplay, Dialogues & Direction: Puri Jagannath.
Producer: C. Ashwani Dutt.
Presenter: C. Dharma Raju.
Banner: Vyjayanthi Movies.
Release Date: 28th September, 2007.

Neha Sharma and Ram Charan

The expectations and the hype surrounding Chiranjeevi's son Ram Charan and his debut flick Chirutha are phenomenal. After the blockbuster Pokiri and the highly successful Desamuduru, Puri Jagan is back with Chirutha. It's a revenge drama with a love story angle. The movie is average, with a done to death approach. Ram Charan does reasonably well for a newcomer.

Plot Charan's father (Surya) witnesses 'Bhai' (Ashish Vidyarthi) murder a man so he tries to kill him and his wife. The father dies while the mother might survive, so the money to operate her requires Charan to sacrifice his freedom and go to jail on someone's behalf. 12 years later, he is in Bangkok working for a travel agency and in love with a spoilt rich brat Sanjana (Neha Sharma). She comes to Bangkok and his agency takes care of her tour. She falls for him too, but his real motive is revenge.

Story, Screenplay and Direction The story is like any other revenge drama. The love story angle is a rich spoilt girl-poor unfortunate boy thread. The screenplay is a little shoddy in the second half. The direction is typical Puri Jagan, but it is between his best like Idiot and Pokiri and his worst like Super and 143. The script is not strong, and that is the main weakness of the movie.

Now the characters-Charan's character is well-written and Ram Charan obviously put a lot of work into it, though he oscillates between confidence and self-consciousness in front of the camera. Sanjana is an unbearable character, the sort of extremities Puri excels in. Dharmavarapu, Ali and Brahmanandam's characters add the necessary humor. Ashish Vidyarthi as the villain is just too commonplace and the character has not been worked upon at all.

The first half moves quickly. After the break, we see glimpses of a number of movies. Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai tops the list. Being marooned on an island, the lead pair getting close there and finally being rescued only to further the drama is all from that story. The climax fight is good, but the whole 'mud pack' sequence reminds one of Oke Okkadu. The introduction fight is also good. A large chunk of the movie is in fact dominated by songs and fights.

Scenes to watch out for: Intro scene, first song, the scenes where Charan teaches Sanjana to behave (much to everyone's relief) and the scene where Charan meets his mother.

Dialogue of the day: Kuturu Kante Kukkanu Penchukovadam Melu.

Babloo, Ram Charan and Uttej

Performances Ram Charan's efforts have borne fruit. The expectations with which he has arrived are unfair, though his opportunities are obviously ample. He has made use of those opportunities-one cannot compare him to Chiranjeevi, Pawan Kalyan or even cousin Allu Arjun. For a debutant, he has done well. His fights are excellent, though his dances are stiff even if he pulls off all the complicated steps. He doesn't look totally like his star father, and his mannerisms or style will need a few more movies to actually develop.

The female lead is Neha Sharma, and though she does justice to the given character, it is slightly loud. Dharmavarapu, Ali, Brahmanandam deliver the laughs. Prakashraj gives a repeat performance, as does Sayaji Shinde. The actor who played Biku is okay, and Ashish Vidyarthi makes a regular villain. Surya and Pragathi as Charan's parents are convincing.

Song and Dance Songs start off suddenly but the picturizations are good. The background score is okay, better towards the end. Rishi Rich's 'My eyes on you' has been used well in the first half.

Last Word Chirutha is a baby step for Ram Charan, but he is a promising and hardworking talent. It will take time for him to blossom. As for the movie, it is average and we've been there, seen that.