Guntur Kaaram: Mahesh Babu’s Film Receives Mixed Reviews

Minutes after he wreaks havoc in a palatial household, Venkata Ramana Reddy (Mahesh Babu) walks away, sits on a garden bench, and has a moment of reckoning.

In an earlier scene he states that he will wait until he knows if the mother-son love is one-sided or if she too yearns for him.

The scene hits a raw nerve and is one of the few moments that stand out in an otherwise stale narrative by writer-director Trivikram Srinivas‘ Guntur Kaaram.

Guntur Kaaram wants to be an emotional family entertainer and a mass/masala film rolled into one.

Several Telugu films – including Trivikram’s Atharintiki Daaredi have embarked on this path earlier and pulled it off.

To be fair, Mahesh Babu keeps up the momentum here as well. However, the narrative gets boring and tedious as it unravels.

Trivikram gets on board some of the finest actors he has collaborated with earlier for this film but gives none of them interesting characters to portray.

Take for instance Satyam (Jayaram) who has resigned to destiny after parting from his wife Vasundhara, stares desolately out of the window and finds solace in yesteryear songs that he plays on the gramophone.

The scenes between Ramya Krishna and Mahesh somewhat redeem the narrative towards the end and Easwari Rao gets a befitting closure to her guilt and grief as an aunt.

While the chunk of the drama is about the mother and the son, where does it leave him, the father?

The two leading women are the ones saddled with the most forgettable parts. Prakash Raj’s character is vile, one might argue, but the rebukes begin even before the grandson knows the complete picture.

Guntur Kaaram fares better when compared to Trivikram’s Agnyathavasi. But that is not reason enough to celebrate.