'Rules Ranjann' is one of the latest Telugu releases at the box office this week. Presented by AM Ratnam, the film is directed by his son Rathinam Krishna.
Plot:
A Mumbai-based software engineer named Manoranjan (Kiran Abbavaram) has a decided set of rules of conduct for himself. When he runs into his school-time crush Sana (Neha Shetty), he dumps his conservativeness and metamorphoses into Pub Ranjann, the archetype of an urban party reveller. They spend happy moments together and even go on the verge of making out (although our strong-willed Iron Man will not indulge in the forbidden anti-Swathi Muthyam activity). Just as Manoranjan starts loving Sana, she moves to Mumbai. In order to win her, the male lead jets off to Tirupathi, their hometown. There, he encounters an unexpected and twisty journey involving a set of elders and oldies.
Performances:
Kiran is one of those actors who knows the art of self-introspection. In a recent interview, he stated that his character's 'meter' in 'Meter' was over-the-top. In the film under review, the flaw has been ruled out at the outset by the very idiosyncratic nature of the movie. Kiran can tickle the funny bone when backed by rare talents such as Vennela Kishore and Hyper Aadhi. A bunch of friends, including Nellore Sudharshan and Harsha Chemudu, play those covertly jealous 'friends'.
The film, however, is not supported by its female lead and its wide range of supporting/character artists. Neha Shetty, despite showing her form in the recent 'Bedurulanka 2012', looks disinterested here (barring the song 'Sammohanuda', which she latched on to because it is her career's first glamorous dance number). Ajay, Subbaraju and even Goparaju Ramana drag down the impact of the family scenes.
Technical Departments:
The cinematography is by Dulip Kumar MS. His work is elementary. Music director Amrish's songs help to an extent. The budding composer is the son of yesteryear heroine Jaya Chitra. If he forks out intelligent tunes in the future, he will go a long way.
Technical finesse is not this film's mainstay. The production values are unaware of the growing standards in the pan-India era.
Merits:
The climax evokes laughs.
Some family scenes are well-written.
The second half adopts lessons from Sreenu Vaitla's family entertainers like 'Ready' and, to a small extent, 'Dhee'.
The four comedians seen in two separate tracks, one in Mumbai and the other one in Tirupathi.
Demerits:
Some underwhelming ideas. For example, Manoranjan's confusion about Sana's interest or otherwise in him has been stretched out.
Lack of originality.
Vox Verdict:
'Rules Ranjann' has a basic storyline with unevolved characterizations. But the comedy quotient in the second half and the entertaining climax work.
Rating: 2.5/5
