Soft Porn packaged as Devotional Movie


That's Pandurangadu for you.

I didn't plan to watch the movie at all as it featured the one and only Natasimham, Viswavikyata Nata Tejoroopam, Nata Simham, Yuvaratna Nandamoori Balakrishna. I have had very harsh and unforgettable experiences watching a few of his recent attempts. But my best buddy Sripathi planned to provide me with an ultimate experience and booked tickets for me along with his family members (25 people in all).

As the movie happens to be a remake of the old Telugu Classic Panduranga Mahatyam, in which late NTR (father of Balayya) played the protagonist, the story is already known. Pandurangadu is a womanizer and is after a prostitute (Tabu). He is married to an innocent village lady and the rest of the film is all about how the lady changes him and how Pandurangadu becomes a maha devotee.

However, K.Raghavendra Rao, who is known more for his masala, commercial films, dedicates neary 2 hours for showing Pandurangadu as womanizer and about 30 minutes for the rest of the story. The way some of the kamasutra skills of the hero are shown are too heavy even for a soft porn movie. While three songs carry heavy dose of double entendres, the settings and the costumes remind us of b-grade adult movies, which are typically made for the sex starved males. The first song features sex bomb Meghna Naidu who shows off liberally. The film shifts to second gear (not the tempo but the romance levels) after Tabu's foray. The director ensured that Tabu is exploited to the max in each of her scenes. He must have paid her a bomb. Of course, Tabu was near perfect and I think she is trying to enter the Malayalam film industry to fill the vacancy created after Shakeela's exit. Then appears an unnecessary romantic song featuring heroine Sneha, who is showed as a maha maha devotee. During this (first half), I moved restlessly in my chair, struggling to find solace.

During the interval none of my friend's family members dared to looked at others; everyone was rushing to go out. Even the second half starts on the same note, but the romance content gets sidelined as the story progresses. The last half an hour shows Pandurangadu as a changed man and how Lord Krishna helps him is getting the mukti. But the time dedicated to this episode is very short and thus the porn stuff is remembered more than the bhatki content.

In sum, Balayya is the villain for about 80 percent of the movie. Balayya overacts, hams and finally becomes a part of another dud. However, he looks good as Lord Krishna, but the make up done to him is incomplete (his hands are not shaved properly). Even for Pandurangadu, the make up looks gaudy.

Department wise ratings (on a scale of 5)

Direction - 0.5
Music - 3
Photography / Graphics - 2.5
Make up / Costumes - 1.5
Art - 2.5