Movie Review Of Ram Gopal Varma’s Power Star: A ‘Billrant’ Film That’s Funny And Bigg Boss-Level Gossipy

RGV is a great entertainer. He’s said that he loves to irritate people and get on their nerves. By that measure, this film should be considered a huge success, writes Avinash Prakash.
Movie Review Of Ram Gopal Varma’s Power Star: A ‘Billrant’ Film That’s Funny And Bigg Boss-Level Gossipy

I remember showing Battleship Potemkin (go Google it, I Googled the spelling too, no egos) to my brother from the same mother. He looked at me like how I look at my mentor! I loved the look. It had so much respect and awe. I have a MUBI membership, where every afternoon, I watch world cinema just to get to a threshold when I can just about reach my bedroom to take a well-deserved lockdown nap. Don't judge me, there used to be a time when I could watch three art-house films at one go! Then Netflix and YouTube happened, and now my brain cannot hold attention or thought for more th…

All this information is to give you a gist of the image I have built up at home. But recently, my brother caught me in a compromising position and the look he gave me changed. He was ashamed of me. I have been coming to terms with my liking crass stuff, so I have been ashamed of myself for a long time. I love crass stuff. It makes me feel good, and during lockdown, amusing yourself is important. But getting caught is shameful. 

I got caught enjoying RGV's Power Star

Yes, I paid Rs 295 (It's a pay-per-view movie. I have taken a pay cut too, but…) One login ID a friend shared didn't go through, but I had already seen the apple by then and couldn't resist. Anyways, after Rs 295 in Ram Gopal Varma's pocket, I sat like an intellectual, reasoning out to my curious brother that this was to help a friend.

Watch the film at https://www.rgvworldtheatre.com/

The film is… well, an RGV film. Power Star is a fictional account of a superstar, who also tries his hand at politics and did not manage to even get a single seat! This film may or may not be a true event of what might or might not have happened in a certain State, involving certain actors with an uncanny resemblance to those  I have enjoyed watching on the big screen. This is purely and literally from the mind, and only the mind of RGV. It aims at giving the Power Star a solution to win the 2024 elections!  

I was instantly hooked when the performer (Prawan Kalyan) who plays Power Star turned out to be a good actor and a great mimic. Like millions of others (please be a million, don't want to one in a 1,000), I've wanted to feel close to these superstars and actually listen to what could have happened in their lives. This was a close second. When Power Star rants about his election loss, you see a vulnerable person, chaotic anger, very much like me. Nowadays, if a family member coughs, I rant about everything from the birth of SARS to why the N95 mask with a breathing valve is bad for others. 

The follow-up scene with Power Star's elder brother is gossip-max impact. RGV gets us hooked onto this masala stuff. By this time, from mocking the film, from mocking RGV, to throwing abuses at the film, to telling my brother that the events in the film could be real, I was full-on in! 

The actors did a few things that were so uncanny that I wanted to believe this is what really happened. Also I Googled who the star's current wife is and went into the images section as well (you also goggle, Na!). The resemblance is 'Billrant'! (Not a spelling mistake!) Watch Bigg Boss: Season 1 (Tamil) for this reference. (That show, by the way, is close competition to this movie. I was cornered into watching Season 1. I badly wanted to know who the people behind the various nicknames were, and spent the next three months in the drain; I justified it by calling it a social experiment!) 

RGV is a great entertainer. He has said in interviews that he loves to irritate people and get on their nerves. I am like that with my family. (The cool term for such people is REBEL. The reality is that we are all rebels without a cause). Whether this time, his film has gone wherever he wanted it to go, I don't care! Have an Iranian chai, take a samosa and watch Power Star: life will be good. 

RGV has surely taken a couple of pegs before making his on screen entranceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee (the e's are intentional, pay Rs 295, and you will also get it). His dialogues are basically his tweets. I did something similar when I tried talking to the love of my life in 12th standard about why we should be together. Like in the climax of this 40–minute film, she hugged me. I am still single. (I first lied that I don't want relationships, because I have to focus on my career! In these four months I have come to realise that she was right in her decision and she's a Billrant girl). 

Like RGV, I now have started believing this is the way to reach wherever I want to reach. I give it believability with a brooding expression. Try this! Your family will believe that you are intelligent. Trust me. RGV has the same look. 

Whether the events in Power Star really took place or not, it does not matter; the film was funny and Bigg Boss-level gossipy. I slept like a baby. 

My brother is now looking at me with an iota of disgust. I don't have to worry too much. Tomorrow, I will make him watch Koyaanisqatsi. (It's an experimental film. Don't be ashamed of Googling it up. The company is apparently investing 75,000 crores in India. Make use of it!).

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