ALA VAIKUNTHAPURAMULOO (TELUGU) (2020)

This is a regular story that involves two babies mixed up at birth. As anyone could guess, one of the babies (Allu Arjun)  grows up in a middle class household while the other (Sushanth) in an ultra-rich household. The rest of the story is about what destiny holds in store for them.

Yes.. it is a story done to dust ever since stories were invented. 

And Yes.. it follows a predictable path till the very end and is packed with the cliches that we would have seen a zillion times.

Yet.. the film doesn't feel stale due to the writing skills of Director Trivikram who manages to infuse even these regular scenes with an element of freshness and fervour. Here, Trivikram is back in his forte delivering a well written family drama filled with enough entertainment quotient that keeps even the template tropes ticking. He has cooked up a winning recipe for a delicious festival blockbuster that has all the ingredients in near-perfect proportions.

Stylish Star Allu Arjun appears to be in his elements and enjoying himself as he emotes with ease, aces his comic timing, oozes effortless charm and swag that befits his image and dances with relish to the hit numbers. While there are many, the scene when he imitates the dance moves from other actors in the scene set in a boardroom is a stand-out.

Commendable cameos from a bunch of talented stars including   Tabu, Jayaram, Sachin Khedekar and especially, Murli Sharma who outshine their respective roles that are pretty minor as compared to their immense potential. Besides there are many more notable names including Vennela Kishore, Sunil, Nivetha Pethuraj, Rajendra Prasad, Rohini and Navdeep who (dis)appear in blink-and-miss parts.

As one would come to expect from any movie mounted on such huge budgets, the film boasts of superlative technical finesse - in terms of resplendent cinematography by PS Vinod who has captured the proceedings in picture-perfect frames and superb action set pieces choreographed by Ram-Lakshman that make  a pronounced style statement while dialing down the violence meter. Music director Thaman deserves a special mention for providing an energetic soundtrack with foot-tapping numbers which are already chart-busters.

Overall, despite its flaws and the predictability of its template, this is a perfect family entertainer which is a veritable Sankaranti feast presented by the duo of Trivikram and Allu Arjun.

AN ENJOYABLE ENTERTAINER !

RATING -3.5/5