Raja Babu Movie Review
Who can be the holiest other than the hero in an Indian movie? The heroes in Indian movies are paragons of virtues, dripping goodness every second. The mythical Gods can have imperfections but not our heroes. And their goodness stands all stringent tests only to emerge victorious at the end.
Raja Babu is one such film. Raja Babu (Dr. Rajsekhar) is the eldest son of a well-to-do and reputable family headed by Parandhamaya (Vijay Kumar). Raja Babu has a younger brother and a sister. When Raja Babu’s father dies he bequeaths a secret to him and seeks promise from his dutiful son not to reveal it. The secret is: Parandhamaya has a second wife and has sired two daughters through her. His wish is that Raja Babu should keep that a secret and still protect his stepsisters and stepmother.
Then trouble starts. People see Raja Babu with his sisters and question him about their identities and his relation to them. Unconvinced by his answers they cast all sorts of aspersions on him. Even his wife (Sridevika) turns away from him. But in the end obviously our hero silences all, for he has done no wrong and only tried to fulfill a promise given to his father.
The movie tries desperately to choke you with emotion in every frame that doesn’t feature Brahmanandam and Kovai Sarala. The only saving graces are the comedy track and the song scenes where we get to see a good deal of curvaceous Sridevika. The sets are so tastelessly done that you feel as if you are watching a shooting not a movie.
Direction of the movie has limited creativity. In almost every frame the actors stand at predictable positions, deliver the predictable lines and emote in confirmed ways like in umpteen numbers of family dramas that we have seen. Such is the laxity on the part of the makers of this movie is that Sridevika’s make up below the rib cage fails to hide her not-so-fair complexion. As it was difficult to take the eyes off Sridevika’s well endowed curvaceous figure, this laxity was quite noticeable. Being dark or brown in appearance is not a sin in show business, the attempt and the failure to mask it is. There are many actors and actresses who have shined in show business irrespective of their skin colors. If you have heard of Smita Patil you would know what I mean. The director could have used different methods to showcase such a voluptuous heroine like Sridevika.
Mistakes notwithstanding, the attempt to present a family oriented story is laudable. Sarada who has always been a good actress returns after a year’s gap to give a reasonably good performance though her role isn’t too elaborate. Vijay Kumar’s acting is good too. Rajsekhar frowns and smiles in action and romantic scenes respectively to give an ordinary performance. But the cake goes to the director for putting things in an unimaginative way to spoil the movie and the producer’s millions.
