suresh kavirayani
Vishal, Anjali and Varalakshmi Sarath Kumar played the lead roles in the film ‘Madha Gaja Raja’ which was released in Telugu on Friday. Actually, this is a Tamil film with the same name and it was released there on January 14 and became a big hit. The film was supposed to be released 12 years back and got a release now. Sundar C is the director, while Santhanam, Manobala and Sonu Sood are playing important roles in it. Here is the story and how it fares.
Story
In Araku, Madha Gaja Raja or MGR (Vishal) is a cable operation and his father works in a local police station as a Sub-Inspector. Sometimes Raja helps his father and in the same way he helps Aggipette Anjaneyulu and falls in love with his daughter Madhavi (Anjali). But due to some misunderstanding both get separated. At this time, Raja gets to know that two of his friends are facing some problems, because of the media baron with a strong political background, Kakarla Viswanath (Sonu Sood). Raja wants to solve his friends’ problems and decides to take on Viswanath in Hyderabad. What is Maya’s (Varalakshmi) role in the film and what is her relation with Raja? How a common man like Raja fights against a big man like Viswanath is the crux of the story.
Analysis
This film is supposed to be released nearly 12 years back and the story is also almost an old one. Sundar C generally made films with commercial aspects and also to attract mass audiences. He also didn’t think about the logic and made whatever comedy he liked. So, he made this film 12 years back with an outdated story and narration. So, you can imagine how the film looks even at this time. But the only thing Sundar did in this film was the comic scenes that involved both the comedians Santhanam and Manobala, which came out well. Though the comedy is not a clean, as it is full of wit and some of them are adult stuff, one can laugh, especially the front benchers.
Maybe that’s the reason, the Tamil version of the film became a hit, even after 12 years. The Telugu dubbed version is not up to the mark as the quality of dubbing is not good. Some scenes from the Tamil version are left out like that making us feel that we are watching a Tamil film. The story is not new. A young man feels happy when he helps someone. Four school friends meet after many years at a wedding and the protagonist comes to know that his friends are in trouble and wants to set things right. This is an old story and even director Sundar narrated it before.
Among the four friends, one friend is played Santhanam and director Sundar used him fully. In the entire first half he provided the much-needed laughs with his one-liners and witty punches. Starting with a court case that involves Santhanam, the director uses Santhanam character only for comedy and he succeeds. The first half is completed with the friends and the marriage and when it comes to the second half, the story is between Raja and Kakarla. In the second half, along with Santhanam, the director very cleverly uses another comedian Manobala, which worked well. Though a common man directly goes to a big media baron’s house, Sundar takes every cinematic liberties in this film. There are a lot of action scenes which the frontbenchers would like and the narration is also fast paced. Many Telugu actors like Sudha, Subbaraju, Satya are there, but they all get dubbed voices. Actually, not a single person dubbed their own voice in Telugu. So, the dialogues are loud and massy. But Sundar is successful in providing the much needed comedy with this film and one can laugh and enjoy watching every scene.
Artistes’ performance
When it comes to the performance, Vishal was young at that time and he played perfectly. He is a live wire in this film. Whether it’s a comic scene or an action scene, he is fit to play in it. Anjali and Varalakshmi characters are confined to only songs and a few scenes. Varalakshmi was relatively new at that time, so she provided enough glamour in the film. Anjali looks beautiful. The main pillar for this film is definitely comedian Santhanam and his punches, one-liners and witty dialogues. Some of them are even adult comedies, but he is at his best and he actually steals the show. In the second half, Manobala is the highlight, and the climax is revolves around him. Santhanam also joins him in the second half. For Sonu Sood, this is another film where he played the villain. Manivannan, Sarath Saxena, Rajendran, Telugu actors like Sudha, Subbaraju, Satya Krishnan, Gayathri Rao and many others supported. Music is by Vijay Antony and he provided whatever is needed for this film. Arya appears as a cameo. Cinematography is also good. The dialogues are good with a lot of punches and one-liners.
Finally, ‘Madha Gaja Raja’ is Sundar C’s typical mass masala commercial film with witty and adult comedy. Though the story is old and illogical, one can enjoy the film as it is a complete laugh-riot. Vishal’s performance along with Santhanam comedy, in the second half Manobala’s climax track is the highlight of the film.
Film: Madha Gaja Raja
Cast: Vishal, Anjali, Varalakshmi Sarath Kumar, Subbaraju, Sonu Sood, Santhanam, Manobala, Sarath Saxena, Sudha, Satya and others
Music: Vijay Antony
Cinematographer: Richard M Nathan
Producer: Gemini Film Circuit
Story, Screenplay, direction: Sundar C
Release date: January 31, 2025 (Telugu)
Rating: 2.5/5
