Guntur Kaaram (2024) Review: Mahesh Babu Shines in This Trivikram Directorial Family Entertainer

Cast of Guntur Kaaram (2024) Movie:

Mahesh Babu, Sreeleela, Ramya Krishnan, Vennela Kishore, Prakash Raj, Jagapathi Babu, Rao Ramesh, Meenakshi Chaudhary, Easwari Rao, Murali Sharma, Sunil, Ajay, Rahul Ravindran, Jayaram

Director: Trivikram Srinivas

Guntur Kaaram (2024) Movie Review:

Trivikram Srinivas's 12th directorial venture, Guntur Kaaram, starring Mahesh Babu, Sreeleela, Ramya Krishnan, Vennela Kishore, Prakash Raj, and Meenakshi Chaudhary, was released in theaters on January 12, 2024. The story revolves around Veera Venkata Ramana (Mahesh Babu), who was separated from his mother, Vyra Vasundhara (Ramya Krishnan), after an accident when he was 10 years old. His father, Satyam (Jayaram), went to jail after the incident.

After 25 years, Ramana receives a paper from Pani (Murali Sharma), who is Vasundhara’s father Venkata Swamy's (Prakash Raj) attorney. Ramana has to sign the paper to declare that he has no relation with his mother, so that his mother, now a Law Minister, can win her upcoming elections without any obstacle. Will Ramana sign the paper? What was the accident that separated Ramana from his mother?

The family entertainer Guntur Kaaram is a one-man show by Mahesh Babu, who carried the film with a brilliant performance as Ramana. The writing of his character is solid, and the punchlines are worthy of applause. The film, made with a budget of around Rs 200 crores, has already grossed Rs 164 crores worldwide after 3 days, becoming the highest-grossing Telugu film as well as the Indian film of 2024.

The film's last half-hour was the most engaging part, though the climax looked a bit rushed in revealing everything. Prakash Raj as Venkata Swamy delivered a convincing performance, with his face-off scenes with Mahesh Babu being praiseworthy. Vennela Kishore as Balu, Pani's assistant, added comic elements quite well, and scenes with the superstar are enjoyable. Ramya Krishnan as Vasundhara got some scope to showcase her potential in the last half-hour. The music composition and background score by Thaman S were decent, but the dance number featuring Mahesh Babu & Sreeleela is a highlight. Cinematographers Manoj Paramahamsa & P. S. Vinod, and Editor Naveen Nooli did a commendable job.

Director Trivikram Srinivas disappointed with poor writing and screenplay. There was a lot of scope to improve the script, especially the mother-son bonding, which should have been the primary focus but did not receive sufficient attention. Another area of concern was the character development. Characters such as Jagapathi Babu, Rao Ramesh, Jayaram, Meenakshi Chaudhary, Easwari Rao, Murali Sharma, & Sunil were not well-developed and remained mostly unutilized. Emotional scenes, apart from the climax, did not resonate well, and the action scene featuring Ajay as Gelatin Babji was poorly executed.

The actor-director combo of Mahesh Babu-Trivikram Srinivas, who delivered blockbusters like Khaleja & Athadu, is coming back after 14 years, so expectations were higher, but they were mostly not met, except for the top-notch performance from Mahesh Babu.

Looking at Mahesh Babu's recent films, he has focused on family entertainment genres since 2017, with movies like Bharat Ane Nenu, Maharshi, Sarileru Neekevvaru, Sarkaru Vaari Paata, & Guntur Kaaram. Fans have high expectations for SSMB29, his upcoming film with director S.S. Rajamouli, and hope to see him explore more experimental roles.