Venky Mama
(UA) 2 hrs 29 min
Cast: Venkatesh, Naga Chaitanya, Payal Rajput, Raashi Khanna, Nasser, Rao Ramesh, Prakash Raj
Director: Bobby (K.S. Ravindra)
Venky Mama generates the good buzz that results whenever real-life star relatives come together on screen. This Venkatesh-Naga Chaitanya starrer is one of the big budget films hitting the screens after a long run of small budget films.
Rama Narayana (Nasser) is a strong believer in astrology and warns his daughter against marrying her beau. She goes ahead, and the couple is killed in an accident. Narayana’s son Venkata Ratnam Naidu (Venkatesh) brings up her son Karthik, though Narayana says the child could be a threat. All of a sudden Karthik disappears from his village and surfaces in the Army in Kashmir. The rest of the film deals with why he did this.
Director Bobby writes the story around the chemistry that Venkatesh and Naga Chaitanya share. It is not great but not bad too. The director follows the typical formula with all the commercial elements. The first half is entertaining especially the scenes between Venkatesh and Naga Chaitanya.
The director depends on Venkatesh for the humour, and the actor delivers. The track where Chaitanya tries to make his uncle fall in love with a teacher and Venkatesh wants to bring his nephew and Raashi Khanna together create some entertainment.
The sudden insertion of the military backdrop looks odd and forced and is a hurdle to the story flow. The reason behind Chaitanya’s joining the Army is not convincing. Except for that last half-an-hour, the movie entertaining.
Venkatesh once again steals the show. He is energetic, his timing is perfect and he is a live-wire. He is in full form here, after ‘F2’. Naga Chaitanya is an able foil as the nephew. Payal Rajput suits Venkatesh and gets a good role, while Raashi Khanna plays Chaitanya’s love interest.
Hyper Adi provides a few laughs. Rao Ramesh once again proves his versatility and is strong on the dialogues, capitalising on the punch lines. His deserved a bigger space. Prakash Raj as a military officer puts in a regular performance. Two of Thaman’s songs are catchy.
‘Venky Mama’ is a typical commercial film and centres on the Venkatesh-Naga Chaitanya bond. It works well till the last half an hour.
