Film: Vangaveeti
Star Cast: Sandy, Naina Ganguly, Kautilya, Sriteja, Vamsi Chaganti and others
Director: Ram Gopal Varma
Produced By: Dasari Kirankumar
Banner: Ramdooth Creations
Music: Ravishanker
Cinematography: Rahul Srivatsav, K Dileep Varma, Surya Chaudhury
Star Cast: Sandy, Naina Ganguly, Kautilya, Sriteja, Vamsi Chaganti and others
Director: Ram Gopal Varma
Produced By: Dasari Kirankumar
Banner: Ramdooth Creations
Music: Ravishanker
Cinematography: Rahul Srivatsav, K Dileep Varma, Surya Chaudhury
It is not always easy to make a bio-pic of a very controversial political figure. There are various groups of people who both oppose or support such a venture. This apart, even the official political dispensation may or may not be in favour of this venture. Even if they do not oppose the venture itself, there may be sections of the film which they may find offensive and objectionable. But Ram Gopal Varma has had the courage to choose precisely a character that had a political, controversial and violent background. Ram Gopal Verma’s movies were always dealing with criminals who had a political background. “Vangaveeti” is no different. He did show shades of the “Vangaveeti” story even in his very first directorial venture “Shiva”. In his earlier film “Raktacharithra” he did not use the real names of the real life characters that he depicted. But in “Vangaveeti” he does use the actual names of the characters that he depicted.
The very fact that the film was based on a controversial political personality created a buzz for it. It raised expectations and curiosity of the industry and audiences alike. Let’s see if the film is in keeping with those expectations or belies them.
The Story:
Chalasani Venkatarathnam is a leader in the Red Party. He is a well known rowdy sheeter in Vijayawada and is feared by one and all. He helps anybody who approaches him in any matter and is a good Samaritan for the poorer folk. All those who oppose him meet with a violent fate. He hears of Vangaveeti Radha, popularly known as Bus Stand Radha and takes him into his fold to do his dirty work for him. Slowly Radha becomes very popular and powerful. Venkatrathnam unable to tolerate the growing stature of his ward insults him. This causes a rift between Radha and his mentor. Radha gets Venkatarathnam killed in a well planned and executed murder.
Chalasani Venkatarathnam is a leader in the Red Party. He is a well known rowdy sheeter in Vijayawada and is feared by one and all. He helps anybody who approaches him in any matter and is a good Samaritan for the poorer folk. All those who oppose him meet with a violent fate. He hears of Vangaveeti Radha, popularly known as Bus Stand Radha and takes him into his fold to do his dirty work for him. Slowly Radha becomes very popular and powerful. Venkatrathnam unable to tolerate the growing stature of his ward insults him. This causes a rift between Radha and his mentor. Radha gets Venkatarathnam killed in a well planned and executed murder.
Thereafter Radha becomes a leader in his own right and also one of the most noted rowdy sheeters in Vijaywada city. He eliminates anybody who comes in his path and becomes an unquestioned leader of the masses. This attracts three college students to him – Devinenu Nehru, Gandhi and Murali. The three are brothers and are very active in student politics. Impressed with Radha’s good nature they form a students’ union and stand by him.
As Radha grows, the other leaders of Red Party realize that their party will simply vanish if he continues to grow. They invite Radha on the pretext of settling a contentious issue, isolate him and kill him. That is when Radha’s younger brother Vangaveeti Mohana Ranga enters the scene. Having been with the elder brother Radha, the three brothers Nehru, Gandhi and Murali extend their support to his brother Mohana Ranga also. But soon differences of opinion and small issues crop up and create a rift between Ranga and the three brothers. The Devineni brothers then form their own party and part ways with Ranga. The Vangaveeti and Devineni families then become sworn enemies. Ranga hears that one of the brothers, Gandhi, is instigating students unions to go against him. Ranga then gets Gandhi killed. This only deepens the rift between the Vangaveeti and Devineni families. In the on-going feud between the two families, Radha gets another brother Murali killed. By this time both the Vangaveeti and the Devineni families are already into politics. Ranga joins a national party and even gets elected as an MLA. Devineni Nehru also joins a newly formed regional party and becomes an MLA.
It so happens that at one point of time the party that Vangaveeti Radha is a member of, is voted out of power and the party that Devineni Nehru belongs to becomes the ruling party. The ruling party decides to put an end to the endless killings and rowdyism that is affecting the city of Vijayawada. Somebody then kills Radha as he is on a fasting protest in public. The entire town of Vijayawada is thrown into chaos owing to this murder but returns to normal after a few days.
Performance of the stars:
Perhaps with the intention of avoiding any preconceived images in the minds of the public or of bringing the characters to the fore and the not the stars, the director chose a set of completely new actors to play the important roles in the film. The performance of Sandeep Kumar in dual role – Radha and Ranga – is simply excellent. He manages to show the differences in the two characters superbly. Naina Ganguly playing Ranga’s wife has done a good job showing good variations in her acting – before and after her marriage to Ranga. Vamsi Chaganti does a very good job as Devineni Murali. The rest of the star cast was impressive in their respective roles.
Perhaps with the intention of avoiding any preconceived images in the minds of the public or of bringing the characters to the fore and the not the stars, the director chose a set of completely new actors to play the important roles in the film. The performance of Sandeep Kumar in dual role – Radha and Ranga – is simply excellent. He manages to show the differences in the two characters superbly. Naina Ganguly playing Ranga’s wife has done a good job showing good variations in her acting – before and after her marriage to Ranga. Vamsi Chaganti does a very good job as Devineni Murali. The rest of the star cast was impressive in their respective roles.
Technical Team:
The one thing that stands out in this film is the blood and gore. Perhaps there was an overdose of that in the entire film. Also the character of Vangaveeti Ranga the younger brother was perhaps not highlighted as much as it ought to have been. The real life Vangaveeti Ranga was much more powerful than depicted on screen. There are some scenes where Ranga’s wife is shown encouraging him to commit murders. One wonders if these scenes will go well with the people, and how close to the truth they are. The dialogues written by Chaithanya Prasad and Radhakrishna are very good. The cinematography by the team of Rahul Srivatsav, K Dileep Varma, Surya Chaudhury is very good. Ravishankar’s tunes and background score are very good. The lyrics, the tunes go very well with the spirit of the film. Productions values are adequate.
The one thing that stands out in this film is the blood and gore. Perhaps there was an overdose of that in the entire film. Also the character of Vangaveeti Ranga the younger brother was perhaps not highlighted as much as it ought to have been. The real life Vangaveeti Ranga was much more powerful than depicted on screen. There are some scenes where Ranga’s wife is shown encouraging him to commit murders. One wonders if these scenes will go well with the people, and how close to the truth they are. The dialogues written by Chaithanya Prasad and Radhakrishna are very good. The cinematography by the team of Rahul Srivatsav, K Dileep Varma, Surya Chaudhury is very good. Ravishankar’s tunes and background score are very good. The lyrics, the tunes go very well with the spirit of the film. Productions values are adequate.
The Final Word:
“Vangaveeti” is a bold attempt by Ram Gopal Varma and has his stamp right through.
“Vangaveeti” is a bold attempt by Ram Gopal Varma and has his stamp right through.
Rating: 3/5