Summary:
Srirama Raajyam is the story of Lava Kusha retold in an inimitable Bapu's style and contemporary taste. Good, touchy mythological/devotional movie.

Story Detail:
The story is based on the popular (Hindu) epic Ramayana, twelve years after Rama and Sita return to Ayodhya following the killing of Ravana in Lanka. One of the spies of Rama (Balakrishna), Bhadra by name, reports to Rama about a washerman Tippadu (Brahmanandam) in his kingdom of Kosala sneered that he was not like the foolish Rama who accepted Sita (Nayanatara) as his wife despite her staying in Ravana's kingdom for about a year. As a king who values his peoples' words, Rama reluctantly decides to part with the then-pregnant Sita and asks Lakshmana (Srikanth) to leave her in the forest outside his kingdom. When Sita's mother, bhUdEvi or the Mother Earth (Roja), is angered at her daughter's plight, Sita promises to join her mother only after giving her kids to Rama. Sita is found by the sage Valmiki (Akkineni Nageswara Rao), the author of the epic Ramayana, and is taken to the former to his ashram where Sita gives birth to twin boys Lava and Kusha (Master Tanay Teja, Master Satvik) while Hanuman (Vindu Dara Singh Randhawa) takes care of her in the guise of a kid Balaraju. Lava and Kusha grow up learning Ramayana from Valmiki; when they go to Rama's place in Ayodhya to sing Ramayana, they realize that Rama has discarded Sita as his wife and become so heart-broke as to vow not to praise Rama anymore. Meanwhile, Rama becomes increasingly detached with his kingly duties and life as he misses Sita. Vasishta (Dr. M. Balayya), Rama's brother-in-law Rshyasringa (Nagineedu), and other well-wishers urge Rama to conduct aSwamEtha yaagam to expand his kingdom and slowly cope with the fact that his beloved wife has parted with him for ever. As a part of the yaagam, all the land that the horse treads on becomes a part of the kingdom of Kosala if no one in the region stops the horse and challenge its protectors. Lava and Kusha, who resent everything connected to Rama, decide to tie the horse up and fight with its protectors. Eventually, they defeat Lakshmana, forcing Rama himself to come fight them. Rama realizes that he's fighting his own sons, when Hanuman brings Sita to the battlefield. Sita hands over the kids to their father and goes down the earth's crust with her mother bhUdEvi. Rama then enthrones his sons and walks off to become one with Lord Vishnu.

Performances
Cast:
Balakrishna as Lord Rama has given a controlled performance for most part and resembles his father Late N.T. Rama Rao (who acted as Rama in the erstwhile Lavakusa, in Bapu's directorial venture  Sree Ramanjaneya Yuddhamu and so on). His diction is different from his usual and is nearly impeccable for most part. There is an impression that he alone suits well for mythological roles among today's generation of actors, and the film proves this (his wrinkles should have been covered though).  Nayanatara as Sita has suited perfectly well, and her performance is in fact commendable. Also, she has shown variation in young Sita and matured Sita. This would be a memorable role in her career. Her dubbing (by Sunita) is suitable.

Veteran actor Akkineni Nageswara Rao as Valmiki has played a role that's central to the story. Srikanth as Lakshmana has an appreciable screen appearance (in his first-ever combination with Balakrishna and in his second mythological role after Ghatotkachudu). Master Tanay Teja and Master Satvik are adequate as Lava and Kusha. While character artistes such as K.R. Vijaya as Rama's mother Kousalya, Sivaparvathi as Rama's sister Santha, Balayya as Vasishta, Roja as bhUdEvi, and Nagineedu ( Maryada Ramanna fame) as the sage Rshyasringa have a few scenes to perform and take the story forward, several other artistes such as Muralimohan as Janaka and Sudha as Sita's mother, A.V.S. as Narada, Brahmanandam as washerman Tippadu, Jhansi as his wife, Rallapalli as his family member, and so on have a blink-and-miss kind of roles.

Technical Departments:
The production team should be commended for taking up such a prestigious project and spending considerably to bring the mythological film to life. The story and screenplay go in line to the classic film Lava Kusha (1963) directed by C.S. Rao and C. Pullaiah for most part, cutting it short of its verses and several scenes towards the climax. The veteran director Bapu who is renowned for his penchant towards the epic of Ramayana takes every care within the scope of the available resources to make this film memorable (ignoring the rather sub-standard graphics/visual effects). This film marks the last film of the recently demised writer Mullapudi Venkata Ramana, who penned the script/dialogues for the film. Some of the dialogues - particularly those uttered by A.N.R. as sage Valmiki - should be appreciated for the elucidation that they provide to the current generation of audience (about the difference between astra-s and Sastra-s, about what the word raamaayaNam means, about giving the names Lava and Kusha to the kids, and so on). Some dialogues revealed through the character of Rama - such as " samasta dharmaalanU minchinadi sEvaadharmam ... raamuDu aa dharmaanikE vidhEyuDu, baddhuDu, baanisa!", " nijamaina raaju prajalaku daasuDu! vaari nammakaanni, teerpunu gauravinchaali!" - clearly set the stage for the film's theme. The costumes for most artistes are appreciable and rich, but the make-up could have been better. (Examples include the wort/mole on Balakrishna's left eye is constantly seen through the film, the inconsistent shaping of Balayya's moustache, the ugly curving of Hanuman's mouth, the wrinkles on Balakrishna's face and throat, and so on.)

The art department needs a special mention for creating huge settings all over the place - Kiran Kumar's set work for Ayodhyapuram and Rama's Rajabhavanam are splendid. Ravinder's Valmiki Ashramam is also good. It's interesting to note that one of the ancestors of Rama is shown to resemble the late N.T. Rama Rao (indicating his portrayal of the king Harischandra?), and it's also interesting to notice the mole on Balakrishna's back reminding the identity mark that N.T. Rama Rao was famous for and is particularly noticed in his portrayal of Rama in the classic Lava Kusha. While the cinematography is in line with Bapu's typical style involving a lot of appreciable close-up shots and artsy backgrounds and frames, the visual effects including computer graphics (CG) are rarely "natural". Their work is however remarkable for most part. It is clearly evident that most of scenes are clearly shot on a blue mat and later replaced with appropriate backgrounds. The scene involving Srikanth and Nayanatara at a time when Lakshmana leaves Sita in the forest seems to be done without the both artistes being at one place and appears artificial. The animals, birds, and even dry leaves in the hermitage setting of sage Valmiki are all done in CG and are not very appreciably done for most part.

Maestro Ilayaraja once again proves that he's master in background musical score. The background score is very apt and true to Ilayaraja's skill and fame for re-recording. Songs are mellifluous and rendered meticulously too. In fact, this is one of his best musical scores ever in his long career. Director Bapu cleverly used Ilayaraja's songs for narration instead of verses as we had seen in earlier devotional movies, also following Lava Kusha. Lyrics by Jonnavithula are apt to the situation while being contemporary in the language and style. Editing was crispy at times and choppy at times, and the duration of the film is a tad bit lengthy.

Now, for the comparison with the classic (Readers may, of course, skip this part if you don't want to compare the two films anyway.):

Srirama Raajyam is, also, actually touching and moving in certain sentimental scenes. Most of the verses from the classic are turned into dialogues in this film, sometimes using the same adjectives and references as in the verses. (The first line of the song lEru kuSalavula saaTi... is directly taken and sung by Lava and Kusha in this film too - this is the only repetition.) The songs don't stand a very good comparison with the classic that has remained in the filmgoers' memories for nearly 50 years, but they are memorable in their own right when evaluated exclusively. The performances are not in the same standard either, understandably, but again they are in line with the tastes of current audience. In short, this film has its own merits and is indeed appreciable if not compared with Lava Kusha. However, the title Srirama Raajyam is not very justified. (A final note on the comparison: The comparison is only being offered for those who may be interested in such, but it'd actually be an injustice to this film to compare with a classic that has grown up in our minds for several decades.)

Bottom Line:
Srirama Raajyam, yet another mythological film that shone on the Telugu silver screen after nearly 15 years since Balakrishna-starrer Srikrishnarjuna Vijayamu (directed by Singeetam Sreenivasa Rao), can cater to those sections of audience who may want to see films of such genre made in a contemporary taste and style. It is touchy and classy.

Review by: NaChaKi

TC Rating: 3.75/5