Two lovers - Satya (Allu Arjun) and Deepthi (Kajal Agarwal) get into trouble with a local don Veeru Bhai (Rahul Dev) in Vizag city. Deepthi wants to move away from Vizag to avoid further problems. Bhai`s men attack the bus in which the lovers are traveling in and set the bus on the fire.
Deepthi is killed in the incident while Satya is left struggling for life with major burns. A doctor saves his life and performs plastic surgery and gives him another man`s face. Now, he is Ram (Ram Charan). With this new identity he starts killing the gang members one by one. On the other hand, another gang is after Ram. Who are they? And What is Ram`s identity?
Well this is not a complete rip-off of the Hollywood film, Face Off (1997). For, the importance is not given to the `face-transplant` surgery. It draws inspiration more from Vikramarkudu, Chatrapathi and other Telugu films.
The very beginning of the film is quite interesting with Ram Charan`s face changed to Allu Arjun`s. First 20 minutes put us under impression that we are going to see an interesting story being unfurled. Writer and director Vamsi Paidipally with co-writer Vakkantham Vamsi fails to sustain the same momentum after the initial unique setup. He invariably slumbers into formulaic. Entire second half reeks of beaten-to-death sequences. Post interval the hero fights with a problem that we have seen in innumerable films.
The director showcased Ram Charan in two different shades in the film and completely drives the movie around the lead hero. There are three girls in the film but none have more than 10 minutes of footage each, leaving the songs aside.
To be fair to the director, he has handled well - Allu Arjun and Kajal`s episode, portions leading to interval, some sequences in the second half like rain fight episode, and hero smartly foiling villain`s plan towards the climax. They engage us in the film. Those are reasons that make this regular masala movie watchable.
Compared to his earlier films - Nayak and Thoofan, Ram Charan has done a fairly good job here. His acting is effective in intense scenes and action episode. To satisfy his audiences, he has also done some good steps in freedom song.
Allu Arjun in a brief role is perfect. Kajal is also good. Shruti Haasan provides glam in songs, other than that she hardly has anything to do. Amy Jackson`s role is more like an extended cameo appearance with a song.
As the main antagonist, Sai Kumar gives his best. He looks menacing. L B Sriram steals the show. Jayasudha, Shashank and Kota have done justice to their roles. Brahmi is irritating with forced comedy act. Rahul Dev and Vennela Kishore are okay.
Ram Prasad`s cinematography brings richness to the film. Editing is slick in majority of the film, but Marthand Venkatesh should have chopped off some scenes to trim the film (166 minutes of runtime). Except `Nee Jathaga`, Devi Sri Prasad`s music is regular stuff.
In Brindavanam, director Vamsi Paidipally has mixed entertainment and action perfectly. Here he has tried to elevate the heroism. He likes to present his films with twists and make it with rich production values to make it look grandeur. He has done the same.
Yevadu provides novelty in the beginning episodes promising a different commercial film but ends up as a regular revenge drama. Has many cliched moments but it is also a film that works to some extent. A masala fare.
Rating: 3/5
