Ravi Teja is associated with a certain kind of films where the winning formula is standard. It has a hero with a “ I care a damn attitude”, a glamorous heroine who needs to get forcefully wooed by the hero, 3-4 strong comic sub-plots with hilarious one-liners, villains who loom in the background and get thrashed by the hero at regular intervals!!! This formula has worked successfully with the last example being the superhit “Kick”. So Anjaneyulu uses the same winning formula to deliver another entertainer that will definitely satisfy all Ravi Teja fans.

What is it about : Anjaneyulu (Ravi Teja) works in the production department at HM TV channel where his attitude towards work is to avoid all work at any cost. He is pampered by his father (Nasser) to no end and he believes in just enjoying life. He soon bumps into Anjali (Nayantara) and then spends the rest of the first half wooing her in his rough style while bugging his channel’s “creative director” (Brahmanandam) with his antics. Cut to the second half where he suddenly joins Bada (Sonu Sood) who has a flourishing criminal network in the city and a running rivalry with Kota Srinivas Rao. The motive for his joining Bada is not revealed till the last twenty minutes after which Anjaneyulu ties up all the loose ends with his revenge story, overpowers the criminals single-handedly and lives happily ever-after with Anjali who has been helpfully appearing whenever a song is required.

What is Good: The movie is an out-and-out Ravi Teja film with him being there in almost every frame of the movie. He excels in this role again since he has so confidently played this character in almost every movie of his. His comic timing, witty one-liners and fight sequences keep the audience occupied. He is backed by some superb comedy by Brahmanandam and others. Nayantara provides the glamour in the songs while Sonu Sood looks menacing enough while the story moves along at a decent pace.

What is bad: The movie at times becomes predictable given its “Pokiri” hangover of a hero going undercover in the villain’s gang to work against them. Some of the scenes where Ravi Teja bashes up 10-15 guys singlehandedly seem to be over-the-top and violent. Nayantara is relegated to the background except when the songs appear. She and Kota Srinivas Rao have very poorly sketched characters as they appear and disappear at the director’s will without any meaningful contribution to the storyline. The music is catchy but the song picturisation is average with the item number by Kim Sharma forgettable.

Me Thinks: This is a movie for all Ravi Teja fans and can be watched if you are looking for a timepass movie that keeps you entertained. The director dedicates the movie to his Guru – Puri Jagannath and Puri Jaganath’s influence is strongly seen in the “Pokiri” style storyline. One of the fight sequences set in Golconda fort reminds you of a similar sequence in “Pokiri”.

Tailpiece: Prakash Raj makes a short and powerful guest appearance playing Jaiprakash who is an ex-IAS officer wanting to change the society. He models this character on the real-life person of Dr Jaiprakash of the Lok Satta party!