Radhe Shyam is one film which has been in the making for a long time now. The film starring Prabhas and Pooja Hegde has been released with a solid hype today and let’s see how it is.
Story :
The film is set in Europe, 1976. Vikram Aditya(Prabhas) is a renowned Palmist who does not believe in love. But destiny makes him meet Prerana(Pooja Hegde). Both fall for each other instantly. But as Vikram Aditya predicts his future, he leaves Prerana and moves to London. What did Vikram know about his future? Why does he not believe in love? What is destiny in-store for Vikram and Prerana? To know all this, you need to watch the film on the big screen.
Plus Points :
Prabhas is back as a lover boy after a long time and there was some tension as to how he would manage this role. But Prabhas lives up to all the hype and looks handsome in the film. His costumes, body language, and performance are a big highlight of Rahe Shyam.
Pooja Hegde gets her career best role as Prerana and is gorgeous in the film. Her dubbing, screen presence and chemistry with Prabhas is also quite good in the film. She had a challenging role and Pooja Hegde gave her best.
The film is made on a rich scale and that is shown in every scene. The grandeur, set work, locales, and colorful visuals are quite pleasing to the eyes. Jagapathi Babu is decent in his role and legendary Krishnam Raju’s presence will make fans happy. The conflict point that is revealed in the second half looks good.
Minus Points :
One of the biggest drawbacks of the film is slow pace. As it is a love story, things happen on a very slow note and this might hurt the fans a bit. There are no standout moments in the romance and the chemistry between Pooja Hegde and Prabhas looks forced in a few scenes.
The film fails in the emotional department as the pain in the love story is missing in a many scenes. The film has a very predictable storyline and there are not many twists in the love story and because of this, the drama looks weak in the second half.
The so called ship based climax does not have anything interesting to showcase and is ended abruptly. When it comes to love stories, songs play a major role but the songs in Radhe Shyam are disappointing to say the least.
The supporting cast does not have anything to do. Bhagyashree is wasted in her role and so is Kunal Roy Kapoor. Murali Sharma does not event get a single dialogue. Why Prabhas lives a certain life style and why he does not make use of the palmistry to understand the issues in love story looks a bit illogical.
Technical Aspects :
Production values by UV creations are top notch as the visuals are quite rich. The camerawork nicely showcases the bygone era and Italy in a beautiful manner. As said earlier, the music of the film is quite disappointing but Thaman’s BGM is very good and elevates many scenes. The editing is just about okay. The costume design is amazing as Prabhas and Pooja Hegde have been styled superbly.
The production design by Manoj Paramahamsa is stunning as the European set up has been created quite effectively. The artwork, sets and props used are very good and so was the VFX work. The lyrics for the songs are neat.
Coming to the director Radha Krishna, he has done just a passable job with the film. Though the story is ordinary, he has set it up in an interesting premise. Had he elevated the drama even more in the second half, things would have been quite effective. The way he has designed Prabhas’ character is quite good.
Verdict :
On the whole, Radhe Shyam is an urban romantic drama with an interesting premise and grand visuals. Prabhas and Pooja Hegde shoulder the film with their sincere performances. But the slow narration, lack of strong drama and rushed climax spoil the mood a bit. If you go in with low expectations, you will connect to this love story and it’s grandeur.
