Bedurulanka 2012 review: A hilarious social satire on doomsday prediction

Didn’t we see people squander their money on some obscure cult and remorse for their loss later? There have been countless stories on “Skylab falling” from oldtimers.

Even in 2012, a few people went into a frenzy mode when they heard the stories of a possible apocalypse. We saw television channels running stories taking references from the Mayan calendar, prophecies of Nostradamus and even predictions of Hindu saint Potuluri Veerabrahmam.

Well, Bedurulanka 2012 is one such story that made people run helter-skelter, literally. As the film hits the theatres on Friday, 25 August, let’s see how it fares:

Synopsis

The story is set in a sleepy-island village called Bedurulanka in the Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh in 2012.

Shiva (Kartikeya Gummakonda) gets vexed with his tiresome job as a visual graphics designer in the city. So, he heads back to his village.

As the villagers feel tense about the possible unpleasant and disastrous event that would hit the Earth, Bhushanam (Ajay Ghosh), Brahmam (Srikanth Iyengar), and Daniel (Ramprasad) cash in on their fear.

The trio hatch plans to fleece the people. How does Shiva save the village from these conmen and how crucial it is for him to protect the honour of village president Venkata Gajapathi Raju (Goparaju Ramana) so he can marry the president’s daughter Chitra (Neha Shetty) forms the crux of the story.

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Good humour keeps us entertained

Bedurulanka 2012 has too many takeaways — one for Kartikeya Gummakonda and the other for the young debutant director Clax.

The story chugs off with good humour, thus setting a perfect rhythm for the village narrative. The wacky comedy that the characters create, the silly politics, and saving the village president’s honour, and the legacy of his forefathers are all funny.

The way villagers spread rumours when Kartikeya returns to his village adds a good dose of humour. However, there are slight dips in between.

The comedy with a tinge of Godavari dialect is entertaining. The director maintains a perfect balance while not getting carried away by the sequences and humour part. Yet, the story doesn’t lose its direction.

The second half shows people running with undue hurry and confusion. In the name of possible destruction of the earth by putting lives in danger on the planet, Ajay Ghosh and his gang try to decamp with the loot.

The pre-climax block where comedian Satya puts all his expertise into shaking the island of Bedurulanka to scare people is absolutely hilarious.

This social satire on doomsday prediction draws whistles in theatres for its humour.

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Performances

All the performances are reasonably good in the film.

However, Kartikeya could have brought more finesse to his craft rather than flexing his V-shaped body and getting more romantic with Neha Shetty’s character.

Apart from the romantic track, Neha Shetty does not get enough bite of her character to perform.

Ajay Ghosh as Bhushanam Siranjeevi does justice to his character as a crooked and manipulative personality.

Srikanth Iyengar delivers another fabulous performance as a fake Godman Brahmam who fools the public with his predictions. The combination of scenes between him and Ajay Ghosh is humorous.

Auto Ramprasad’s humour doesn’t take the landing as much as he does in “Jabardasth” comedy show. However, he manages to make audiences laugh as church pastor Daniel.

Vennela Kishore, senior actor LB Sriram, and comedian Satya are seen in cameos in the film.

Rajkumar Kasireddy as Kasiraju is entertaining.

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Music and technical crafts

Clax cleverly does away with the routine dance numbers, except for “Solluda Siva” and the last single “Kotraa Dappu” (which comes in the pre-climax block).

Instead, he chooses to make the story move while creating an equal mix and balance of music, lyrics, and story.

“Vennello Aadapilla” is another melody number that comes during the romantic track of Kartikeya and Neha Shetty.

Mani Sharma does a good job with his music.

However, the beauty of the Godavari delta isn’t captured well. Camera work would usually be superior in such picturesque locations. But Sunny Kurapati’s cinematography is just okay.

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Verdict

Bedurulanka 2012 sends an inherent message while portraying how people get carried away with the mob mentality to save their lives.

It showcases how people hang on to superstitious beliefs without having individual thinking and how such notions stoked by fake religious heads give credence to fraudsters for committing bigger crimes.

(Views expressed here are personal.)