Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo embraces everything Tollywood to the max: ostentatious fighting scenes (the hero is a one man army), glamorous female characters for show, weeping family drama sequences and a violent villain. However, the beating charm of this film comes from the ridiculousness of it all and somewhat unanticipated charm of Allu Arjun in the role. If you want a few laughs, this movie is the right one for you, although in the beginning it certainly doesn't seem like it. It also delivers a core truth with light heartedness: that fate can neither replace human will to succeed, nor values. That being said, there are some god-like qualities the hero (Bantu) has, that I notice are prevalent in a lot of these Tollywood heroes: ability to ONLY speak the truth, always protect women and family through extreme macho violence, extreme intelligence and impeccable sense of humor, which is DEFINITELY unrealistic (how can anyone be that perfect?). At the end of the film, you feel like you've really seen a movie with a star. It's pure entertainment...
That being said, there are some things I liked about the movie, and some things that made me roll my eyes (and even walk out).
Here is a quick synopsis of the film: Bantu (Allu Arjun) learns at age 25 that he had been switched at birth with someone else (Raj) at a hospital, and that he's actually the son of a millionaire (Ramachandra). The person who orchestrates the switch is Valmiki, a bitter worker in Ramachandra's business who wants to see his biological son (Raj) succeed and bring down Ramachandra's real son (Bantu himself).
What I liked:
The storyline of Valmiki trying to switch his child with another child in the hospital, hoping that fate is written by what house you grow up in, how much money you have and how lucky you are is definitely an interesting (although not novel) concept. It's consistent throughout the film, as Valmiki tells Bantu, "your fate is bad, very bad. You'll never rise". I liked how the movie stays consistent with that theme and how Bantu rises from it (to Valmiki's chagrin) and proves otherwise. If you have the fixed mindset of Valmiki, alas, that's all your going to get. But if you have a growth, can-do attitude, you can become like Bantu (although this being the Tollywood movie that it is, Bantu seems to be born perfect).
I liked that the heroine's true skin tone was honored and that nowadays the industry is more accepting of darker skin in general.
I liked that they didn't make Valmiki's real son Raj (living as Ramachandra's son for 25 years) a jerk, and just a regular person. Ramachandra's family is portrayed as a normal household with problems.
I liked some of the ridiculousness, surprisingly. There's one scene that's pure fun when Bantu arrives to negotiate with the villain's son in a bright red suit, and starts dancing like crazy to youtube songs and jesting. It's just funny. In general the movie is light hearted and comedic, and that almost forgives the unrealistic nature of it all. I laughed out loud quite a few times.
What I didn't like:
I didn't really appreciate how women in these films are always super sidelined. Or any character other than the hero for that matter. For example, Raj wasn't given the chance to say no to the villain since Bantu had already fought with everyone on his behalf, and Bantu had to first put up a tough macho man demeanor before his female boss could feel confident to say no. There was a slight reprieve with Tabu's character as a woman who confronts her husband about his infidelity, and I wish to have seen more of that strength from the other female characters. I wish that women could breathe a little bit more outside of the Tollywood constraints that chain them.
Overall, I'd recommend the movie for its good fun. It's light hearted and carries some laughs. The songs and dancing are great (Allu Arjun dances really well). The message is good, but at the end of the day I wouldn't call it a great movie. In my view, hero perfectionism can carry some entertainment, but it's not enough to make a movie legendary: multi dimensional characters are.
