Review: Magadheera

Several stories came on the Telugu screen with reincarnation as the backdrop. Right from Mooga Manasulu these tales were little more than love stories. The latest among them is Magadheera. However, the directorial ability of Rajamouli has made the film memorable as it has no shades of the earlier films. He has made the best use of the latest technological advancements like FX and SFX, Digital Intermediate and of course, computer graphics. The other name to be mentioned for this sensational film is the budding hero Ramcharan, who accepted a challenging role, which artistes shy away from in general. He showed extreme ease in both the roles.

The story dates back to four centuries, to be precise, 1609 AD. There is a kingdom called Udaygadh in Rajasthan ruled by a king (Saratbabu). Mitravinda (Kajal Agarwal) is his only daughter. Ranadev Bhalla (Dev Gill) is her brother-in-law. Kala Bhairava (Ramcharan) is a warrior who trains the army of the kingdom. He is also the personal caretaker of the princess. Ranadev eyes Mitravinda and want to bequeath the kingdom by marrying her. But the princess loses her heart to Bhairava. In order to win her hand, both Ranadev and Bhairava take part in a contest and Bhairava emerges the winner. Ranadev turns traitor and joins hands with Sher Khan. He invades the kingdom and kills the king. Later, Ranadev and Sherkhan reach the place where Bhairava and Mitravinda were offering prayers to Lord Siva. Sher Khan challenges Bhairava to save his life from his men. Bhairava courageously attacks and kills 100 soldiers. Sher Khan bows his head to Bhairava and accepts defeat. But Ranadev kills Mitravinda and Bhairava. Just before death, Bhairava kills Ranadev too.

All these people are some 400 years later, i.e., in 2009. Harsha (Ramcharan) is a stunt lover and ekes out his living by taking part in bike races and stunts. When he touches Indu's hand, he feels an electric connection. He starts looking for her as the touch reminds him of something. Indu s father fights a legal battle for Udaygadh kingdom as it was his ancestral property. His brother-in-law enjoys the property illegally. The latter s son Ranadhir (Dev Gill) is spell-bound by Indu s beauty and goes to their home and promises to return the entire property with the view of marrying Indu. Ranadhir s guru Ghora (Rao Ramesh) tells him that he just cannot win Indu as long as Harsha is alive. On learning that Indu s father accepted her love towards Harsha, Ranadhir kills him and implicates Harsha in the murder. Later, Ranadhir takes Indu away to Udayagiri. Though Harsha tries to explain the truth to Indu, she doesn't believe him. In the process, Harsha drops from the helicopter and falls in a pond only to be saved by Solomon (Srihari). Now it was Harsha's turn to prove his innocence and remind her of their reincarnation.


Ramcharan has excelled in all the departments and perfectly matched expectations. His macho image suited the warrior s character well. He showed ease in action scenes as well as dances. He has improved himself a lot since his first film and the director moulded the character very well. One could imagine how many nights he must have struggled to etch the character with such precision. It is no wonder the director took so much time for shooting the film.

Kajal Agarwal is also an asset to the film. She is very apt for the character of the princess. Besides filling the glamour slot, she has proven that given a chance, she too can give an excellent performance. The other notable character is of Bollywood artiste Dev Gill. He was able to show the cruelty and crookedness in his eyes and facial expressions. However, his character had similarities of the villain in the recent release Arundhati. Action choreography by Peter Haynes and Ram-Laxman is extraordinary. All the other artistes including Saratbabu, Rao Ramesh, Surya and others did justice to their roles.


All the departments behind the scenes have ably assisted the director to make this film a celluloid wonder. First among them is cinematographer Senthilkumar. He has perfectly understood what the director wants and captured every finest point. Especially the fights that come in the flashback episode, the moving of arrows, the movement of the javeline, the sword fights, the picturisation of Udaygadh fort would remain a celluloid wonder and remind the audiences of watching a Hollywood film. Next comes the art director. He decorated the Udaygadh fort, the Bhairavakona set with a mammoth Shiva statue and the pathway to the Bhairavakona perfectly. Editing by Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao proved his seniority and he was able to match the graphics and the camera shots perfectly to the core. Hats off to the director for his work in coordinating all the 24 crafts in the film industry and it was his dream to bring a Telugu film on the lines of a Hollywood film. His ability to pen the screenplay could be seen in every frame and every scene of the film.

Music by Manisharma is however, less than wondrous. Though the songs are melodious, one can't help concentrating on the visual feast of the choreography. The first song, which is a remix of Chiranjeevi s Bangaru Kodipetta was excellently choreographed and Ramcharan outsmarted his father in dances.

The only draw back in the film is comedy. Despite the presence of top comedians like Brahmanandam and Sunil, none of them could tickle the funny bone. But the audiences did not care for the comedy as the film had them spellbound.