Bhale Dongalu Review

Though the producer is ready to invest his money in film production, he would have to choose a good story and at the same time he should have an efficient director, who can do justice to that story while presenting on the screen. In order to provide good entertainment and at the same time to make a safe bet on the film, some wise producers would opt for a successful film of other language and remake it. Vijaya Bhaskar, who gave big hits like, Nuvve Kaavaali, Nuvvu Naaku Nachav and Manmadhudu came forward to direct the remake of a successful Bollywood film Bunty Aur Babli. Tarun, who gave good hits in his early days of career, is lagging behind several of his co-stars and is awaiting a hit. Vijaya Bhaskar, whose combination with Tarun was a hit, again roped in the latter as the hero for the film, with Ileana, the latest heartthrob of Telugu audiences in the female lead. Their combination again proved a success and brought a big smile on the face of Tarun at last.

Ramu (Tarun) is the son of a school teacher (Chandra Mohan). He is a B Com graduate passed in third class, but he doesn't want to do a job. Instead he wants to do a business, which his father can not afford. Jyothi (Ileana) is the daughter of an industrialist (CVL Narasimha Rao), who wants to become a model. However, her grandmother (Annapurna) wants to get her married against her wishes. So, Ramu and Jyothi leave their houses and meet in a train and travel together to Vizag. They lose their luggage in the train and will have no money to survive. As they are cheated by some others, they decide to cheat others and earn money. They change their names as Romeo and Juliet and successfully implement their plan. They earn money by cheating others and also by stealing costly articles. Later they leave for Hyderabad. During their journey, they meet a small kid, who is suffering from kidney disease. After reaching Hyderabad, they continue their stealing and keep leaving a mark 'R/J' while stealing. The police appoint DCP Yugandhar (Jagapathi Babu) to trace Romeo and Juliet. They cheat the manager of a big electronic shop (Dharmavarapu Subrahmanyam) and earn Rs 3 lakh. The shop belongs to Veerraju (Pradeep Rawat). After that, Romeo and Juliet want to stop cheating and stealing, and start some business with the money. Then they come across the advertisement about the girl and her kidney disease. They go to the hospital and give away Rs 3 lakhs that is with them and still the girl needs Rs 6 lakhs for surgery. Then, Romeo plans in a big way and cheats Veerraju, who is dealing ganja, cocaine, heroin and other such narcotics. Veerraju pays Rs 20 lakhs to Romeo and soon learns that he is cheated. Then the chase begins for Romeo and Juliet. How Romeo and Juliet escape from the clutches of the goons of Veerraju and the police led by DCP Yugandhar forms part of the remaining story. Like many other films that came on the Telugu screen, the DCP help the hero and heroine to escape, before Veerraju blasts the police station in revenge.

PLUS: The screenplay scripted by Vijaya Bhaskar is the major plus point of the film. The film dotted with good comedy and the entire film has been brought out as a laughing riot. Tarun has improved a lot in performance and showed excellent comedy timing all through the film. Ileana too looked gorgeous in all kinds of outfits. However, the director chose to portray her character in a romantic way, but in a very neat manner. It seems she learnt a lot that mere showing skin doesn't work. She looks very romantic, amazingly without skin show. The entire story revolves around these two characters. Jagapathi Babu's performance is neat and the action scenes were quite stylish. The director moulded this character also in a typical way. Choreography of songs is excellent and one need to appreciate the taste of the director and producer in bringing out such a good choreography, especially with Ileana. Pradeep Rawat, Chandra Mohan and others have done justice to their roles. Comedy by Brahmanandam and Dharmavarapu is apt.

MINUS: When one had to look for entertainment, he should not look for reasons. Many scenes in the film are beyond logic. Music by KM Radhakrishnan is not that effective though a couple of tunes are foot tapping. The director should have shown a little more interest in doing the chase scenes. But for minor lapses, the film is good to watch.

REMARKS: Tarun, who had no notable hits in the recent past, at last has a smile in his face with this film. Like its Hindi original, Bunty Aur Babli, this film could be considered above average to hit range. Vijaya Bhaskar needs to be complimented for his effort in giving a hit to Tarun.

Cast: Tarun, Ileana, Jagapathi Babu, Charmi, Pradeep Rawat, Mallikarjuna Rao, Brahmanandam, MS Narayana, Sunil, Venumadhav, Narsing Yadav, Sudha, Sana, Hema, Annapurna and others.

Credits: Dialogues – Abburi Ravi, Lyrics – Veturi, Bhuvanachandra and Chandrabose, Camera – Jagan, Editing – Marthand K Venkatesh, Music – KM Radhakrishnan, Presents – Bellamkonda Suresh, Producer – Sakhamuri Panduranga Rao, Screenplay and direction – Vijaya Bhaskar.

Banner: Sri Lakshmidevi Productions

Released on: April 11, 2004