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Home > Telugu Movie Reviews > Lakshmi Kalyanam Teja's Latest Is Total Time-pass APK | February 15, 2007 Rating: ***.25 (***** Very Good, **** Good, *** Fair, ** Average, * Bad)
Teja's last few movies have not exactly hit bulls-eye. His latest venture, Lakshmi Kalyanam with Kalyan Ram and new comer Kajal has the magical Teja-RP Patnaik combo working together again. The story, the music and the performances have somehow worked well together for this movie, and Lakshmi Kalyanam is not disappointing. The climax drags on slightly, but apart from that, it is Paisa Vasool. Teja's Jayam has a similar theme, with the same rural setting and a rustic, ruthless villain. We see Kalyanram emerges as an actor trying to come out of the enormous shadow that encompasses him.Plot Lakshmi (Kajal) is the daughter of the head of the village (Sayaji Shinde). Ramu (Kalyanram) is her cousin, who is deeply in love with her from her birth, literally. The village has a clash with its neighbouring village, whose head has a villainous son with ferocious dogs in tow (Ajay). His eyes fall on Lakshmi, and Lakshmi's father promises him her hand in marriage to him. He loathes Ramu because of his poverty and decides to join the two villages once again with this marriage. They decide to hold a race with bullocks, whose winner will get to marry Lakshmi. But there is betrayal and failure in store for Ramu, but will he watch Lakshmi marry someone else as per the agreement or will the duo unite is the rest of the story. Story, Screenplay and Direction The childhood track of the lead pair is sweet without being too mushy. Ramu's possessiveness for Lakshmi is endearing. Their love-story and their romance is well-written and well-made. Ajay's character is ruthless to the core, and he suits the character perfectly. The villain with his man-eating dogs-now that's relatively new. The final twist with the dogs is morbid, but then it clicks. The climax fight was essential for an elevated ending; otherwise it would have felt incomplete in the commercial context. But at the same time, the fact that Ramu has deathly blows on his body, but still manages to stay up and fight defies human mechanism. The other sub-plots, that of the funny Malaysia-returned suitor for Lakshmi (Harsha), the track involving Ramu's best friend Bujji and the race makes interesting viewing. The only hitch here is that the animals must have endured a lot of torture, with constant whipping, but obviously no one cares. More killings and more torture, man or animals, the more entertaining it is these days. The humor and the sentimental aspects, both work in cohesion for the movie.  Performances Kalyanram is growing stronger as an actor with each movie. With the spark he displayed in Athanokkade, he did not fizzle out, but continues to work at it. He still needs to come into his own and there's time for him to be the 'It' hero, but there is potential. He is energetic and displays enthusiasm and vigor in his performance.Debutante Kajal makes it clear it's her first performance. She is slightly conscious of the camera but for a first timer, she does her bit. Ajay is convincing and stands out in the movie. His mannerisms, his dialogues and his body language is what stays in mind long after the end. Sayaji Shinde also does a good job, and thankfully does not ham in this movie. Raghu Babu as his sidekick has a humorous role, while Ram's whole gang of friends do justice to their roles. Music and Dance The songs make good viewing and hearing, with both the music and dance being above average. To listen to, the songs may not be much, but on screen they come at the right time and are entertaining. The song with Harsha is funny in particular, and the mush factor is ever-present in the other songs. Last Word Lakshmi Kalyanam has its highs and lows, but overall, it is consistent. It's a complete 'Masala' movie with romance, sentiment, enmity, betrayal, songs, dances and loads of color. If that's your kind of cinema, then this is total Time-pass. | ||