Disco Raja - Movie Review

Disco Raja Movie Review: A routine revenge drama!

What’s it about!

Vasu (Ravi Teja) goes missing for many days. Their family members think he was kidnapped by a financier who they owe money to. Around the same time, a dead body is being experimented at a science lab. The scientists successfully give life to the dead and he steps out. A guy recognizes him as Vasu but the scientists reveal that they gave life to a dead body that was frozen for 30 years. He's Disco Raja, a gangster in the 80's. What is the connection between Disco Raja and Vasu and how did Disco Raja die?

Analysis

Out of three movies the director Vi Anand had directed, ‘Ekkadiki Pothavu Chinnavaada’ was the only one that had tasted success at the box-office. It offered entertainment and engaging narration. His latest outing ‘Disco Raja’ featuring Ravi Teja in a dual role might see the fate of the other two duds, as this is filled with boring proceedings and a routine narration.

The poster of ‘Disco Raja’ has words like ‘Replay’, ‘Kill’, etc. If we borrow those words to describe this film, this is a replay of clichéd scenes, overkill of routineness. After beginning the film on an interesting note, the writer-director seems to have lost new ideas to proceed in the same manner.

There’s a scene that explains how the caterpillar transforms its body to emerge as a butterfly. After the initial interesting setup, the director has failed to turn those ideas to bloom like a butterfly. He seemed to have confused whether to tell a science fiction, or a play an ode to 80's era, or recreate a gangster drama. His confusion is evident throughout the second half. 

Two roles of the lead hero, many flashbacks. We have three heroines but none have a role worth talking about. The presence of several comedians but the jokes are lame. The so-called 80’s episodes are as dated as of the 1980s. 

The only surprising element in the film is the performance of Sunil. The best part of the movie is the music by Thaman. To some extent, cinematography and production design is top class. 

Ravi Teja is out of form as an actor and the star. Nabha Natesh appears in a song and a couple of inconsequential scenes. Paayal Rajput plays a regular role. Bobby Simha as the villain is okay. 

Director Vi Anand has begun the film well but his writing is bad in the later proceedings. 

Bottom-line: ‘Disco Raja’ begins as a science-fiction drama but proceeds with over-the-top episodes, and ends with a beaten-to-death twist. It falls flat after an interesting initial setup