Anna [Mohan Babu] is a highly regarded and powerful bigwig in the Rayalseema region. Lakshmi [Jayasudha] is his wife, Bhushan [Kishore] his elder son and Krishna [Vishnu] is his younger one. And, Sirisha [Shanvi] is the love interest of Krishna. Ramudu [Bhavani] and Gaja [Gajapthi Naidu] are his confidant men working for him. As a part of the power politics, while Anna opposes the much turbulent Nandavaram project that would affect the common man, a group consisting of businessman KR, Vedam [Thanikella Bharani], Chandi [Jeeva] et al strongly lobby in favor of the project for personal and political benefits. Politician Anand Rao [Paruchuri Gopalakrishna] is a good friend of Anna who is actively involved in the project issue. Bhushan is the corrupt child of Anna who suffers insecurity all through his upbringing. The semiotics and consequences of the revenge saga between Anna and the antagonist group forms the crux of the story.
Mohan Babu: Versatile actor Mohan Babu has once again showed why is regarded as one of the greatest actors in Contemporary Indian cinema. He got into the skin of the 'Anna' character like none does. This film is a visual feast for all the hardcore Mohan Babu fans and shall plant induce respect for all the naysayers. His dialogs, acting, dances and fights are an absolute treat to the eyes.
Jayasudha: She brought life to the character 'Laxmi', wife of Anna. It is indeed a cakewalk for an exemplary actress like her. In the film, she is offers a pleasant surprise and that you need to find for yourselves.
Vishnu: He has infact made the essential cut as an actor with this film. His action was intense and decent enough for a RGV's hero. He has definitely upped his position as an actor with this film. He added value to this intense drama except for his pronunciation which can be mellowed.
Shanvi: She was cute as well as hot in the film [Yes..we are talking about Nee Meeda Ottu song]. She wasn't a need in the film but yes she fitted well into this intense drama.
Thanikella Bharani: He is a treat to watch in the film and especially as 'Vedam' in the film with his unique philosophy. His smile is indeed a huge plus for the film.
Paruchuri Gopalakrishna: He has a key role in the film and he has a surprise too which you will not get to know till the end. Intriguing right. Watch the rest in the film.
Rest of the cast Jeeva, Bhavani, Gaja, Benerjee did a decent job to keep us glued to this intense revenge drama.
Ram Gopal Varma is a master at intense political and revenge dramas like these. But, we still wonder if he's never ever bored of modifying and remaking his own classics! Along with him, an average movie buff would know this is the Telugu version of his Sarkar (Hindi) franchise [Part 1] starring Amitabh, Abhishek et al. Anyhow, analyzing this Telugu version:
Highlights:
*The intense drama and the intelligent screenplay.
*The pre-interval fight [the touted 11 min fight sequence] and the stupendous yet realistic way it was shot. The slow motions Go-Pro shots and slow motions were the beauty of it.
*The intense acting of Mohan Babu, Jayasudha, Kishore, Vishnu and Bharani.
*The background score through out especially in a fight sequence in the hospital post interval.
*Cinematography was a stunner.
Drawbacks:
*The sluggish first half that was rather stretched for the sake of duration.
*The dialogues that don't strike chord always.
*Songs that seem rather forced especially the song between Mohan Babu and Jayasudha.
In a nutshell, the second half was gripping than the first half. And RGV tried to play his wit again remaking his own film under the mask of a new faction story.
Music by Sai Karthik was decent enough serving to the needs of his director. But, his background score was impressive though it has strong influences of Sarkar, Shiva and other previous RGV films. [Don't be surprised if your hear some tracks of the those classics here]. But, the bgm in the hospital scene seemed original and laudable indeed. The "Seema Lekka" was haunting. Mixing of the original and natural sounds like the 'hawk' ones etc in the action scenes were impressive but the transition in the scenes was abit abrupt.
Cinematography by Sateesh Mutyala was commendable - added beauty to this drama. Dialogues by Gangotri Viswanath were decent enough.
Rowdy is a banal second watch for all those who watched classics like Godfather and RGV's loyal adaptation series Sarkar. But, a pleasant surprise to the others who have not. In simpler words, it is a strict one-time watch and a typical RGV film. Watch it at your convenience.