Ram Srikar
Filmmaker Pawan Basamsetti believes that making the audience wait for the hero’s ‘entry’ by just teasing his presence through back and leg shots, and using generic tactics like slow-mo shots and loud music counts as ‘mass’. But the film doesn’t give a single reason for us to genuinely root for the protagonist.
At the centre of Rangabali are well-intended and heartening ideas. The film discusses the importance of identity through Naga Shaurya’s character. Likewise, another nice argument the film posits is our obsession with negativity. But the way these ideas are communicated is laughably generic and basic.
There are some logical issues in the film that made me wonder if nobody questioned such glaring errors on a script level. For instance, Shaurya and his friends, in order to create a sensation at the center of their hometown, create a bomb blast, which is even caught on camera. But there are zero repercussions!
Satya, as a person who thrives in others’ misery, offers some relief but even that thread is too overdone. The humour can be crass and problematic at times though; an Islamaphobic gag is thrown in for laughs, we see Sapthagiri beat women in what’s supposed to be a funny scene. In all, Rangabali ends up as a guidebook on how to not make a mass movie.