5 December 2010

Rakta Charitra 2

I have always had issues defining the term acting. There is no definitive definition for this word. However, it might be a safe bet to say that acting encompasses expression and dialog. A good actor is the one who provides the perfect blend of expression and dialog.

I am a movie aficionado on the borderline of being labeled as a film devotee/addict. Over the past decade, the only actor who made me sit up and watch his performance rapt in undivided attention and become entirely oblivious of my surroundings is Surya. His performance in Raktha Charitra 2 will go down as one of his best and anoints him as one of the most talented actors of the country with an excellent future ahead of him.

I watched the Friday 10:30 PM show of Raktha Charita 2 in Virginia. Surya’s introduction was greeted by loud cheers and whistles in the theatre. For a moment, I forgot the fact that he was a Tamil actor starring in a Telugu film. The cheering reminded me of the cheering and applause reserved for the likes of Megastar Chiranjeevi by Telugu crowds in the USA.

Surya acted with his EYES. He portrayed all the expressions like wrath, vengeance, anger, hatred, agony, helplessness, shock, ecstasy and happiness through his expressive eyes.

Surya’s performance in the following scenes is top class:

• Beginning scene of the movie - before the bomb goes off, Surya’s face is shown burning with fury that gets translated into agony as soon as he realizes that he missed his target of killing Vivek‘s character.
• Anger and helplessness while seeing Vivek’s character on TV after a failed assassination attempt.
• Concern over his wife’s safety who is in the custody of DCP.
• Shock over the death of his family members.
• Pure ecstasy when he is driving back after killing Vivek’s character. He alternates between crying out of happiness and showing pain remembering his departed family, showing a subtle yet superb variation.
• Interaction scenes with Vivek and DCP (towards the climax).

Vivek Oberoi continues his excellent form from Raktha Charitra 1. His expression when he comes to know that Surya has surrendered to police is impeccable. Priyamani did a very good job in this movie. Radhika and Sudeep did their roles effectively. Others chipped in…

RGV’s signature proves his prowess at shot making in the following scenes:

• Most shots in the film are close up shots. He deliberately concentrated on the eyes of the protagonists (Surya and Vivek).
• All action scenes are in slow motion. I particularly liked the beginning scene of Surya and his henchmen escape after a foiled attempt. One of Surya’s henchmen falls after being shot with a kid running in front. This scene is shot using a diagonal camera angle giving the audience view of each artist one by one as they appear within the shot block. The entire shot division for this scene is amazing and beyond a regular/commercial movie director’s comprehension.
• There is a scene where the members of Vivek’s gang insist that Priyamani character be eliminated. Radhika (who plays Vivek’s wife) does not support this - Vivek looks at the ceiling for a while, lowers his head, leans against the sofa and slightly nods his head (as a signal to go ahead). During this “approval” process, the camera focuses on the faces of all the other characters in the room with varying expressions of anticiption. The audience is also left to anticipate what might be the decision.
• The fight in the jail - the prelude scene is Surya drinking water near the tap before the fight ensues. After the fight ends, Surya goes back to the tap to drink water.
• Last scene of the film - the camera focus moves from Surya (on TV) to Vivek’s child who is playing in his mother’s lap.

The biggest down side of the movie is that audience who are well aware of the actual happenings may be disappointed with amount of fictional element in the story. RGV maintains that this is an “fictional” story. But even a kid knows that it is the story of Paritala Ravindra and Maddelacheruvu Suryanarayana Reddy and the blood bath that took place in Rayalaseema area. There is a lot of fiction than fact in this movie. The plausible reason for RGV may be to show both the warring groups in a positive light to avoid any controversy after the first version received a lot of flak over representation of certain characters.

Basically RGV tries to say that both the characters of Surya and Vivek are intrinsically good but are driven to violence because of extenuating circumstances beyond their control and to protect their families/followers. It is shown that Vivek’s character is totally oblivious of the TV bomb used to destroy Surya’s family. He is shown reprimanding his henchmen for targeting kids and women. The myth in the media is that it was Paritala’s brainchild effectively executed by his henchmen.

On another note, the brief appearance of Bukka Reddy character received a good applause from the audience. Without any doubt, this is the best villainous character of recent times in Indian films. Also, the character of Muddu Krishna (Moddu Seenu) was well applauded.

The turnout was amazing and things look more promising for this sequel. Once again, kudos to Surya and RGV, in the order written :-)

Sreekanth Devarakonda
devarakond at hotmail dot com

More My Movie experiences:
Rakta Charitra 2 by Mahesh
Orange by Dayakar
Rakta Charitra 1 by Sreekanth
Robo by Sreekanth
Maryada Ramanna by Kumar
Inception by Kumar
Bheemili by Nani's sister
Raavan by Lalitha Spoorthi
Vedam by Praveen
Vedam by Ratnakar
Vedam by Laya
Vedam by Naveen Soma
Vedam by Pavan
Vedam by Deepak
Vedam by Manohar
Vedam by Sridhar A
Vedam by Sarath Chandra
Vedam by Murthy
Vedam by Kumar
Vedam by Santosh
Vedam by Sreekanth D
Prasthanam by Ravi
Prasthanam by Suresh
Prasthanam by Amarnath
Prasthanam by Krishna Chaitanya
Prasthanam by Che
Prasthanam by Purnesh
Prasthanam by Kumar
YMC by Kumar
YMC by Mallik
YMC by Satya
YMC by Anurag Reddy
YMC by Ramskott
YMC by Dellcom
YMC by Ashok
YMC by Ramya
YMC by Sudheer
YMC by Laya
YMC by Survi
YMC by Rajeev
YMC by Pavan
YMC by Rohit
Inkosaari by Avanthi
Inkosaari by Sneha
YMC by Praveen
YMC by Rajani
YMC by Sujith
Inkosaari by Ganesh
Leader by Sreekanth D
Maya Bazar by Gopal
Mahatma by Kishore
Baanam by Stanley
Josh by Nathan
Magadheera by Ashok
Magadheera by Wannabe Director
Magadheera by Shanti
Magadheera by Anitha
Magadheera by SS
Oy by Prathna
99 by Bala Thirumalasetty
Veedokkade by Srinivas
Delhi 6 by Vamsi
KIKK by Sweta
Luck by Chance by Srini
KIKK by Lalitha Spoorthi
Arundhati by Naveen
Arundhati by Srini
Arundhati by Bharat
Sasirekha Parinayam by Santhi Venkat
Sasirekha Parinayam by Vamshi Muthapu
Sasirekha Parinayam by Niharika Reddy
Nachavule by Vamsi Krishna
Neninthe by movie lover
Avakai Biryani by Vamsi Krishna
Kotha Bangaru Lokam by Vamsi Krishna
Kotha Bangaru Lokam by S
Ashta Chemma by Deepthi
Ashta Chemma by Lalitha Spoorthi
Sarkar Raj by Pradeep
Jalsa by Lalitha Spoorthi
Gamyam by Sridhar
Gamyam by Sreekanth D
Gamyam by Sanjay
Halla Bol by Purnesh
Taare Zameen Par by Ashok Varma
Taare Zameen Par by Raja Simha
Happy Days by Krishna Sastry
Chirutha by Phani Kumar
Chak De India by Ravi
Yamadonga by Lalitha
Chak De India by Shyam
AMAV by Darsakudu
5 in March by Sashidhar
Okkadunnadu by Anand
Black Friday by Ratnakar
Desamuduru by Krishna Prasad
Guru by It's opinion
Dhoom 2 by Lalitha Spoorthi
Dhoom 2 by ASK
Don - Syam
Boss - Anand
Boss - Hrithik
Stalin - Bala
Bommarillu - Nandini
Bommarillu - Darsakudu
Bommarillu - Vasu
Bommarillu - Harsha Prakash
Bommarillu - Lalitha Spoorthi
LRMB - Shravan
Bommarillu - Anirudh
LRMB - Srinivas
LRMB - Darsakudu
LRMB - S Sridhar
Bommarillu - Shridevi
Bommarillu - Vasudev
Bommarillu - Roopa
Sriram - Godavari
Sarath - Bangaram
Bala - Pokiri
Srinadh - Allari Pidugu
Sudheer Allari Pidugu
Anu - Athadu
Shyam Krishna - Iqbal
Purnesh - Grahanam
Sudhindra - Super
Vijay - Aparichitudu
Madhav - Aparichitudu
Hazaraon Kwaishein Aisi
Swades
Shyam - Black
Sai - Anand
Rohit - Anand & Veer Zaara
Jaya Prakash - 7GBC
Raj - Anand
Purnesh - Anand
Purnesh - The Village
Sriram - Gudumba Shankar
Purnesh - Gharshana
Purnesh - Lakshya
Purnesh - Yuva
Leenesh - Yuva
Kis - Lakshmi Narasimha
Indian Pride - Tagore
Raj - Boys
Phani - Gangotri
Phani - Khadgam
Vikram - CKR
BKR - Indra (Singapore)
Ram - Indra (Dubai)
Ranjeet - Idiot
Rahul - Indra
King Koduri - Indra
Srilakshmi Katragadda - Mitr: My Friend