Hare Ram - Movie Review

Hare Ram (2008)
Cast:
Kalyanram (dual role), Priyamani, Sindhu Tholani, Rajeev Kanakala, Chalapati Rao, Sudha, Chandramohan, Seetha, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Brahmanandam, Ali, Venumadhav, Raghubabu, Nutan Prasad, Ashok Kumar, etc.
Story: Gowri Shankar
Dialogues: Swamiji-Vijay
Screenplay: Swamiji-Vijay, Harsha Vardhan
Camera: C. Ram Prasad
Art: Vivek Annamalai
Choreography: Suchitra Chandrabose, Brunda, Sobhi, Swarna
Fights: Ram-Lakshman, Selva
Music: Mickey J. Meyer
Lyrics: sirivennela Seetarama Sastry
Editing: Gautham Raju
Producers: Nandamuri Kalyanram
Co-Producer: Ch. Srinivasa Rao
Co-Director: Kolli Ramgopal Chowdary
Screenplay andDirection: Harsha VardhanRelease
Date: July 18, 2008
CBFC Rating: A

What's it all about?
Harikrishna and Ram (both played by Kalyanram) are born twins, but Ram is diagnosed to be soft-headed and he develops a grudge on anyone who's more intelligent than he is. In a situation where their dad (Chandramohan) is very concerned about Ram hurting even Harikrishna for the latter's being more intelligent, their mother (Seetha) walks out of the house with Ram, in order to protect her mentally affected child. In a turn of events, Ram, raised by his uncle and aunt (Chalapati Rao & Sudha), turns out to be an IPS officer - the Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP).
In events that follow, Hari gets into a little altercation with the
health minister Shiva Reddy (Kota Srinivasa Rao) who is behind a health mafia along with his brother Dr. G.K. Reddy (Rajeev Kanakala), and the chairman of 10TV channel Surya Prakash (Ashok Kumar). Suddenly, both their brothers get killed one after the other. Ram is thought to be behind the murders, since those dead met him just before their murders, and because they claimed they were very intelligent. ACP Hari is in a fix to shoot his twin brother at sight! With CBI intervention, and with the health mafia case in the backdrop, the rest of the story revolves around nabbing Ram and punishing the baddies. Of course, there are twists and turns that retain the interest of the audience.
Performances
Cast:
Kalyanram dons two roles as Hari and Ram, and he does the job very well. His performance as a psychopath and as a sophisticated officer are distinct and appreciable, starting with his body language and makeup to his diction. Kalyanram's ease in acting can be seen all through. Priyamani as the love interest of the ACP role, and as an undercover CBI officer, handles the two shades of her role really well. She also gets into some glamor show in the songs. Sindhu Tholani comes as an element of surprise, as a journalist that loves Ram and makes him normal. This is not the first time she takes up such a role - she makes herself a good fit.
Brahmanandam as
taxi driver Nijam is good, while Raghubabu as a police inspector adds to some comedy along with him. Ali and Venumadhav appear in insignificant roles that they could have easily handled anyway. Rajeev Kanakala has a short role as a wicked doctor who isolates deadly viruses and later creates and sells the remedy at a high price. The rest of the cast does the job well. Seetha is particularly good in sentimental scenes.

Technical Departments:
The story reminds of Manmatha in its theme, but it seems to be inspired from the Korean film Soo (2007) too. Swarna Subbarao (Vijayendra Varma fame), rechristened as Harsha Vardhan, handled the direction department well. With good screenplay and a story that's modified a lot to suit our nativity, he comes up with a movie that does portray his caliber. Narration is good too, though it could have been better-paced. There are also symbolic shots such as a confident Kalyanram confronting Kota and wearing his "cooling" glasses (sun-goggles) while Kota removes his own "cooling" glasses, indicating that the protagonist is cool and the antagonist lost it. Music by Mickey J. Meyer is one major plus point of the film - songs are good because of lyrics by the veteran Seetarama Sastry and good orchestration and visuals. The choice of using a rap, hip-hop styled song (inkonchem freedom tecchEsukundaam... for a love duet is a bit surprising.
Also, the choreography for this song is more surprising because the lyric says the love pair doesn't care for anyone else in the world and that they're the world themselves, but the choreography includes tens of group
dancers all over the place! The theme song is really good and used very effectively. Rerecording needs particular mention too, since it elevates the mood of the movie on the whole.
Camerawork by Ramprasad is very impressive, with mind-blowing shots such as the
glass piece through Kota's hand, reflection of Kalyanram having a different expression than his face, reflection of the hospital roof in Kalyanram's eyeball after CBI investigation, etc.. Dialogues were good in parts, but faced a lot of censoring, with new rules in place. Even the caste-indicating part of Rajeev Kanakala's name is cut out, thus making him "Dr. G.K. (muffled pause)". Some dialogues connected to the current political scenario such as "chaTTam tana pani taanu chEsukupOtundi" by the Health Minister are edited out. Action sequences are well-choreographed and the camera work is very good in fights, but one can expect that the violence levels would be high because one of the two male lead roles is portrayed as that of a psychopath.

Bottom Line:
The film has a not-new story told in a decent way, coupled with decent enough performances by everyone. The film is surely an okay film, but how the film fares actually is to be seen. It seems to be inspired by Korean film Soo (2007).
Rating: 3/5

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