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Om Namo Venkatesaya
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Jeevi
rating: 3/5
Punchline: Story of Hathiram Bhavaji
Genre: Devotional
Type: Straight
Banner: Sai Krupa Entertainment
Runtime: 144 minutes
Censor Certificate: U
Release date: 10 February, 2017
Theater watched: Screen 1, Prasads Multiplex, Hyderabad
Cast: Nagarjuna, Saurabh Raj Jain, Anushka, Pragya Jaiswal, Jagapathi Babu (special role), Vimala Raman, Ashmita, Rao Ramesh, Sampath Raj, Sai Kumar, Brahmanandam, Vennela Kishore, Raghu Babu, Pruthvi .etc
Music: MM Keeravani
Cinematography: S Gopal Reddy
Art: Kiran Kumar Manne
Editor: Gautam Raju & K Vikram Kumar
Lyrics: Chandrabose, Ramajogayya Sastry, K. Shivashakti Datta, Dr. K. Ramakrishna, Ananta Sriram & Vedavyasa
Story, Dialogues: JK Bharavi
Screenplay, Direction: K Raghavendra Rao
Producer: A. Mahesh Reddy
Om Namo Venkatesaya links: |
Rama (Nagarjuna) is an ardent devotee of Lord Venkateswara and he comes to Tirumala from North India in search of God. Krishnamma (Anushka) is another ardent devotee. Govindarajulu (Rao Ramesh) is a King’s representative who looks after temple and pilgrim town’s maintenance. Rama with the guidance of Krishnamma and blessings of the king makes sure that the temple flourishes and all rituals are performed as per the holy scriptures. At one point of time, Ram Bhava is accused of stealing the jewelry of Lord Venkateswara and is put in jail. Rest of the story is all about how Lord rescues his favorite devotee and how Rama is renamed as Hathiram Bhavaji.
Actors: Nagarjuna is immaculate as devotee of Lord Venkateswara. He brings authenticity to Hathiram Bhava character with his flawless portrayal. Saurabh Raj Jain is perfect for the role of Lord Venkateswara. Anushka is good as Krishnamma. Pragna Jaiswal’s character is more like a guest role with a duet. Sai Kumar is impressive as guru. Rao Ramesh is typical as a bad guy. Sampath Raj stamps his authority in the role of a king. Brahmanandam, Vennela Kishore, Pruthvi and Raghubabu are wasted in a bland comedy. Jagapathi Babu plays a special character and has a romantic song with Anushka. Vimala Raman and Asmita are apt as wives of Lord Venkateswara. 
Story - screenplay - direction: The main aspect of story (how he was jailed and how lord rescued him in the guise of elephant) is interesting and it forms the pre-climax of the story. Since there is no dramatic impact in the rest of the story, the director has concentrated more on history and rituals of Tirumala and Lord Venkateswara. Since it’s based on a real story with not much material available, most of the film appears like series of informative episodes on Tirumala (why should we visit Varaha Swamy temple first, how Lord Vishnu kills the pride in Bhrigu Maharshi, why Lord’s wedding is performed regularly at Tirumala temple etc). The screenplay of the film is not much interesting because of the type of story selected. Since it’s a kind of biopic, the climax of the film doesn’t give the dramatic high one seeks in these kind of devotional films. K Raghavendra Rao who has been very successful with devotional films like Annamayya and Sri Ramadasu made sure that the film offers interesting tidbits about Lord Venkateswara and Tirumala. However, the pace, emotional depth and dramatic impact should have been good.
Other departments: Cinematography by S Gopal Reddy is nice with rich visuals. MM Keeravani’s music is an asset with songs like Akhilanda Koti and Veyi Namala Vada creating instant impact. Dialogues written by JK Bharavi are good and some are pretty informative. Visual effects are decent. Art direction is good. Editing is fine. Production values are very good. 
Analysis: Om Namo Venkatesaya is based on the story of Hathiram Bhavaji. With little information available about Bhavaji, the writer had to fill most of the movie with informative episodes about history of Tirumala and Lord Venkateswara. Plus points of the film are Nagarjuna’s flawless work, music and pre-climax episode. On the flipside, we expect an interesting screenplay and dramatic impact for such kind of devotional films. We need to wait and see how it works at box office.