Ranabaali Review: ★★½☆☆ (2.5/5)
Ranabaali has a promising first half, a great cave fight, and strong chemistry between its real-life couple. But predictable writing, patchy visual effects, and a very long second half leave it feeling stretched and familiar.
Rating: ★★½☆☆ (2.5/5)
Language: Telugu
Genre: Period Action Drama
Runtime: 2 hours 58 minutes
Director: Rahul Sankrityan
Cast: Vijay Deverakonda, Rashmika Mandanna, Arnold Vosloo
It’s been a few years since Vijay Deverakonda delivered a clear box-office hit, and his last film, Kingdom, ended up just average. So the pressure is on with Ranabaali, a period action drama directed by Rahul Sankrityan, who worked with him on Taxiwaala.
It is also the third film for Deverakonda and Rashmika Mandanna together and the first since their marriage. With music by Ajay-Atul and the Mummy star Arnold Vosloo in a key role, there was plenty to look forward to.
The film follows Singanamala Bobbili Ranabaali, played by Deverakonda, who is born with a purpose and slowly becomes the legend of a cursed land. Set during British rule in India, it touches on the 1876-1878 famine in the Madras Presidency and how colonial grain-export policies helped cause it.
Ranabaali stands up to British cruelty to save his people and his motherland, while a British commissioner, played by Vosloo, has his own plans. The director’s guiding idea is that a forgotten past is a stolen future, and he deserves credit for trying to tell a story that has not been told much on screen.
The film starts on a shaky note. The opening scene, the hero’s first action moment, and his speech style in the first fifteen minutes feel unsettling. But once the villain enters, it finds its footing and stays engaging up to the cave fight at the start of the second half.
The biggest highlight is the pairing of Deverakonda and Rashmika, whose real-life chemistry lights up the screen. Almost every scene between them works. The first half also has a strong scene when the British first visit the village, a well-built pre-interval action sequence, and a few moments that show British cruelty. The cave fight is another big plus, with special praise for its camera work.
Then the trouble starts. After the cave fight, the film slips into a very predictable zone. A backdrop about British-ruled India has been used many times; even SS Rajamouli had to add a lot of fiction in RRR to make it work. The second half has many repeated scenes, so it feels stuck instead of moving forward.
Just when you think the film is over, a new chapter called Kobali begins, and the twist inside it lacks impact because similar ones have been seen in many Telugu films.
Even the climax fails to excite because of thin writing and little emotional depth, and the death of an important character does not hit as hard as it should. At times it also reminds you of Sye Raa, helped by the fact that Ajay-Atul scored both.
On performances, Deverakonda gets the Kadapa slang right in most places and does well in a few emotional scenes. But his body language is stiff in action scenes, and he sometimes seems too aware of his own acting. Rashmika is superb as Jayamma, handling every emotion with ease. Arnold Vosloo is menacing without being loud. Easwari Rao and Vinod Sagar do their parts well.
Technically, Ajay-Atul’s music sounds fresh, with three good songs and a score that fits the mood. The cinematography suits the period, but visual effects in the Madras port scenes are patchy. The editing needed more care too, since ten to fifteen minutes of the second half could easily have been cut. At nearly three hours, it feels tiring.
In the end, Ranabaali is a sincere attempt with a good first half, but it needed tighter writing and sharper editing.
If you want something else to watch, our review of Prahaar covers Rajkummar Rao’s gripping courtroom drama on 26/11; our review of Crazy Kalyanam looks at a Telugu family drama with a strong message, and if you want a big-star entertainer, our review of Jailer 2 is worth a read.
Ranabaali is now playing in theatres.