Watch Rajubhai at your own risk

After watching Rajubhai, the first thing that comes to mind is why did Big Daddy Mohanbabu give the green signal to such a script. He used to be very particular about his two sons' film careers. As the film's producer, one expected him to be more careful about the project, but on the contrary, he dealt a severe blow to Manoj's already sagging career with this obnoxious flick, directed by Suryakiran.

The culprit, of course, is the director, who also wrote the screenplay. It is evident from the very first frame that Surya was confused about the project, be it the plot, screenplay, characterisation, or the projection of the hero. So he concocted a masala flick with love as the central theme after action and family sentiment. The wafer-thin plot has situations that are pedestrian.

First of all, the director is obsessed to project Manoj as a macho hero with an ability to break anything into pieces if provoked, be it solid granite or an iron bar. The script vacillates between love and action and after watching the film, one feels that Surya should undergo a course in screenplay and direction, just in case he wants to do more films in future.

At the outset, Rajubhai (Manoj) appears to be a good-for-nothing bloke who makes a temple his dwelling. He spends his time bickering with the residents particularly a widow who has a young daughter. After some time, it is revealed that the widow is his mother and the young girl his sister.

Though the mother throws Raju out of the house, he is not all that bad. During one of his job hunts, he saves a local don, Babaji's son from an attack. In gratitude, Babaji appoints him lead man in the group. He then comes across Anjali and falls in love. He leaves Babaji and starts selling stuffed dolls, earning the love of the girl. Marriage plans are made, when Raju is arrested at a red light area. Though he has a valid reason for being there, Anjali refuses to listen and breaks off the engagement. 

If you have the patience, sit through the entire film to find out whether the two marry.

Performance wise, Manoj did what was expected of him. Sheela is neither pretty nor a good actress.

The saddest part in the film is that the director did not know how to make use of comedians like Brahmanandam, Sunil, Ali, M S Narayana and Raghubabu.

The dialogues lack punch and the director could have saved the audience from double entendres. Except for a couple of songs, Yuvan Shankar Raja's music is very uninspiring.

Now, one wonders whether Surya's first flick Satyam was a flash in the pan.

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