Bejawada Review – Naga Chaitanya Movie

This film was known as ‘Bejawada Rowdeelu’ at the start, but later it was cut short to Bejawada due to severe agitation from Vijayawada politicians and activists. With so many controversies and buzz surrounding it due to the issue it is focused on, Bejawada opened to curious crowds today. Did it live up to the hype and hoopla? Let’s find out in the review…

Story:
Bejawada is ruled by Khali (Prabhu), who runs a parallel government in the town. His younger brother Shankar (Abhimanyu Singh) is power thirsty and is jealous about Vijay Krisha (Mukul Dev), who is a close aide to Khali. Out of desperation to be the ruler, Shankar eliminates his brother and lock horns with Vijay Krishna.

Shankar successfully kills Vijay Krishna and the latter’s younger brother Shiva (Naga Chaitanya) avenges his brother’s death. How Shiva kills Shankar and wipes out his empire forms rest of the story.

Analysis:
Like it was publicized Bejawada is not a realistic look on the history nor does it bear any references to what ‘actually’ happened. Looks like the filmmakers tried to cash in on the ‘curious factor’ that is associated with Bejawada rowdy-ism. This is a routine revenge drama where two groups fight for the upper hand.

Obviously good wins over evil! So there needs to be a tight and arresting screenplay for such films to keep the audience interested. Unfortunately, Bejawada lacks the bite! It is a very dull film with poor screenplay. Everything goes as per the audience predictions. It also ends on a predictable note.

First half is mainly focused on the gang politics in which hero is left in the background. He comes to the front in the second hour, but a poor script lets the film down. One would expect a tense thriller out of this concept. But the director’s inability to highlight the emotions seems to be the biggest drawback of the film.

Second hour is sheer test of patience and it would be an almost impossible task to sit through it. It may appeal to people who look for excessive violence in a film.

Performances:
Naga Chaitanya didn’t suit the role. He is good in portraying romantic characters. He needs some time to take up such high voltage films. His costumes and looks are good. He should focus on his diction as soon as possible. It is the main drawback for him as an actor at present.

Amala Paul has good looks but her role is half baked. Abhimanyu Singh is menacing as the bad boy. Prabhu and Mukul Dev are alright. Ajay, Kota Srinivasa Rao and others did their bit. Brahmanandam is wasted.

Technicalities:
Music is composed by almost half a dozen people. The output is mediocre. None of the songs really made any impact and the background score is too loud. Cinematography is bad. The camera angles and the technique used will let us down. Editing is jerky and unconvincing. There are many jump cuts and irrelevant opening and closings of the scenes. Production values are of low standard. The film is made on a shoe string budget.

Director Vivek Krishna tried to ape Ram Gopal Varma in terms of storytelling and camera angles. His output is not up to the mark. He didn’t do justice to any of the emotions. Be it agony, romance or comedy. When the director doesn’t want to highlight any of the historical facts, then why did he opt for Vijayawada rowdy-ism backdrop is a million dollars question.

Final Word:
Bejawada may appeal to mass audience that look for some action and violence. People who expect a sensible or a sensational film from RGV’s camp will be terribly disappointed.

Bejawada Movie Rating: 2/5
Banner: Shreya Productions
Cast: Naga Chaitanya, Amala Paul, Anjana Sukhani, Brahmanandam, Nassar
Producer: Ram Gopal Varma, Kiran Kumar Koneru
Direction: Vivek Krishna