It was almost a pressure cooker like situation for Ramcharan. First, the title sounded deceptively like his Dad Chiranjeevi’s movie Magadheerudu. Next, they inserted a super duper hit song from the Megastar’s super hit movie remixed to check his dancing prowess. Then, they even got Dad in a cameo to add to the weight. But to his credit, Ramcharan breaks out of the steam and the weight to come out with a movie that deserves a whistle. Magadheera is a must watch and a mast watch!

Magadheera gets eight out of ten things right on the face of it and that should help it sail through all the overhype it generated. Barring a few downright silly stunts (C’mon a Tavera flying into the air to intercept a helicopter midair and blowing it into smithereens?) and some unbelievable special effects (like dead bodies falling off cliffs and suspended in the air for inordinate time), most of the movie starring Ramcharan, Kajal Aggarwal and a white dupatta, is sharp, slick and gives the necessary kick.

The way the movie opens with Princess Mitra Vinda and Bhairava wrapped in blood and gore to fall off a mountain is dramatic. Cut to 400 years later, the scene shifts to Hyderabad where handsome Harsha, a winning bike racer, accidentally touches Indu’s hand and he feels a spark. Not that boy-girl chemistrywala spark but a real high voltage spark you get when you touch a livewire with a damp hand. Ouch! So he goes back to track down this white chudidhar girl with the high voltage touch. Indu thinks he is a roadside Romeo trying out his pranks. So she lies to him that the girl he is looking for is her friend and that she will introduce him to her. A series of funny scenes later, the Romeo discovers she’s his girl. In bits and pieces, we are shown how Harsha keeps getting blasts from the pasts to remind him of his real identity. Meanwhile, evil man Ranadheer also lusts after Indu and her property. But he finds it difficult to get Indu, leave alone touch her, as he also feels some blasts from the past. Every time he gets closer to her, he feels an invisible power pulling him away. He approaches his occult guru who tells him that the Mitra Vinda and Bhairava story and how Ranadheer lost his love even in that birth.

We are then taken back to the royal era where Bhairava and Ranadheera each want to win over Mitra Vinda. They have to win a race to get it. Mitra wants Bhairava to win the race and win her over but the evil Ranadheera conspires to kill the two of them with the help of a rival king Sher Khan (Srihari). The canvas gets bigger and colorful in this history bit. Everything is larger than life and dramatic. Sword fights, one-on-ones, horse chases etc give the movie ample scope to get onto a bigger league. The sets are gorgeous and the costumes authentic. The sets have spectacular props – the lion head and the Bhairavaswamy statue, the royal court etc. The scene where Bhairava almost loses the race and is stuck in a sand whirlpool and how his horse bails him out is the whistle-blowing moment of the movie. The other such is where Sher Khan challenges Bhairava to live up to his legend of killing 100 people before he dies. The dialogues are full of attitude here and very very Tollywoodish! The same tempo of dialogues should have been followed throughout. Magadheera could have done with a few more killer one-liners that Telugu star vehicles are known for.

However, Ranadheer decides that Vinda should be killed if she is not keen on marrying him. So he bumps off the two. The scores remain unsettled and the entire team has taken rebirth in the same era to finish of the business. How the white dupatta is used throughout the movie to join the various scenes is good. Incidentally, the dupatta – well, a similar one, appears in the previous birth also. Ranadheer now vows to have Indu at least in this birth and creates a misunderstanding between Indu and Harsha. Now, Indu thinks Harsha killed her father and she hates him. But Harsha has to remind Indu of their Devgarh past to reunite with her or the evil man will get her. Those scenes where Ranadheer and Harsha encounter each other have been slickly shot. There is a lot of drama and action here. It is good that the movie gives equal footage to all the important characters. Rajamouli has resisted the urge to make Ramcharan look like a superhero by making the villain look silly. In fact, Ranadheer is shown to be equally capable, in fact smarter than Bhairava at times and a warrior himself. Dev Gill is bound to be flooded with similar offers. He looks evil and handsome at the same time.

Kajal Aggarwal looks super tall in those lehengas of the bygone era and every bit the haughty princess she is meant to play. She looks playful, innocent, gorgeous and cute as and when the scene demands. Rama Rajamouli’s styling is good for all the characters. Kajal, especially, walks away with the glamour queen award this year. It is nice that she is not just a mere prop in this hero-centric movie but has enough power to pack in a punch.

Ramcharan is officially the new millennium’s Greek Verudu. The talk of him undergoing numerous cosmetic procedures notwithstanding, his sharp nose and shapely jawline gives him the royal look. His costumes – in browns, deep chocolates, blacks etc give him the warrior look. Even as Harsha, minus the iron guards, he looks stunning. We especially love his black T shirt with a pistol on it! Ramcharan excels in the action scenes. The horse chase, the bike ride etc. However, holding the helicopter bit got only laughs from the audiences, not the claps the crew expected. He takes his first song Bangaru Kodipetta seriously and does a lot of body contouring to beat his Dad at his own game. That bit where he leaves one person behind with each step and moonwalks to the mad cheering of the audiences is going to Ramcharan’s signature step for a long time to come. Mumaith Khan, with her gym toned body and what-the-hell look, is the best choice for the Bangaru Kodipetta song.

Srihari plays the crucial role of Sher Khan and his Daccani dialogues are good. He appears as a fisherman in the new birth and is funny. Veteran actor Brahmanandam has just a three minute role but he hits the nail on the head. Sunil has a small role, but like always manages to tickle the funny bone.

Technically, Senthil’s cinematography adds to the magnitude of the movie. The way the camera pans across the entire Udaygarh kingdom, how it zooms from over the fortress wall fast and furious to show the horses entering the fort are superb. The special effects are good in the horse ride scenes and other stunts. However, the electric spark bit between the lead paid could have been done more elegantly. The music gives a different genre of music by using a lot of devotional hymns and chants at various places, especially well-utilised in the background. It is nice to see and an entire stunt scene minus the dishum dishum but to the rousing chants of the Kalabhairava stotra. Besides the Bangaru Kodipetta, only the Panchadhara song sounds impressive.

Rajamouli’s talent lies in tapping the potential in each of his crew to make them give their best be it music, camera, costumes or even the fine detailing in the sets. He also excels in giving an enticing opening and a thrilling ending and keeps up the tempo throughout. Only those unnecessary and unbelievable stunts become the Achilles heel of the movie. His idea to have every crew member featured in the last song where the credits role acknowledges their hard work. What an idea!

Magadheera is not an epic, not a legend, not even a cult movie, but it is certainly an artistic extravaganza and a sensory treat. Like we said before, a must watch! A mast watch!