Why Telugu movie Rangasthalam is the quintessential mass entertainer

It has been a week since it released and director Sukumar's Rangasthalam is going full house. It seems to be finding audience with the small town Telugu viewer to the NRI looking for cinematic escape into the fictional Andhra village of Rangasthalam, alike. Raking in big figures at the box office both in India and overseas, it looks like the Ram Charan and Samantha Akkineni starrer has certainly touched a few chords despite or rather because of its mass appeal.

Like the Andhra thali that serves in small measures a little bit of everything plus a dash of pickle and karampodi and fried chilli, there's a full show on with Rangasthalam, transporting us into a feudal village set in the 1980s. Anybody who raises a voice here against the megalomaniacal president garu is hunted down amid the tall field grass and brutally murdered by his goons. But life otherwise is about growing your corn, making your living by honest means, the vibrant festivals and village fairs.

Mingling perfectly into this scenery is Chitti Babu; partially deaf, simple-hearted and blessed with all the physical prowess of a south Indian film hero to bash and thrash.

Ram Charan slips in heartedly into Chitti's character whether he woos village belles or dances to catchy numbers or flips up his lungi with a practiced flair. A departure from all his previous performances, this is where Charan is not his superstar self riding a slick bike. Instead, we see him get his hands dirty in the earth and put on show one primal emotion after another through the three-hour-long drama. His innocence is trampled upon ruthlessly after his brother bleeds to death and Chitti cannot save him. A broken man thereafter, the grief and pain and anger swell up within him till an equally bloody revenge is meted out.

The twist in the conclusion is guessable but the surprise arrives in the way Chitti goes about the job with a matter of fact coldness he is not used to. One hopes that he would come back to being the same simple guy going about his life and love story, the confessions of love lost in hard hearing. What a couple of slaps exchanged are but friendly banter in hindsight when they finally come together and all is well over a meal of sambhar and rice. Charan's performance through all of this is commendable and touted by many to be his best so far.

The stray case of him holding a goon by the ankles and flipping him about like it were a standee he was manhandling instead of a hundred kilograms can be forgiven, what with everything going a bit over the top in any case.

Forming a vivid background to Chitti's deepening character is a village brought to life in enriched colours with R Rathnavelu's cinematography. You would not mind planning a weekend getaway to some picturesque village along East Godavari or some such. Every once in a while, these folks break into song and dance with Devi Sri Prasad's music, which is full throttle on energy.

Plus there's an item number inserted like item numbers are inserted with a flimsy excuse of a context and the entire village on a testosterone high over Pooja Hegde's moves. Add in Samantha's signature portrayal of a rich tapestry of emotions and the film packs in all the ammo of a Telugu mass entertainer that does not disappoint and keeps you engaged till the end.

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