Kotha Bangaru Lokam Movie Review

Kotha Bangaru Lokam starring Varun Sandesh of Happy Days fame and Swetha is produced by Dhil Raju, one of the most successful producers of Telugu film industry. This film is directed by debut director Srikanth Addala. It is a good debut. Even though the film is a love story with college backdrop, it is the narration and the emotional chords that are touched that got things right for him.

As story goes, Balu (Varun sandesh) and Swapna (Swetha) are resident students in SVC Intermediate Residential college. As is usual, they fall in love and naturally they are seperated as parents do not approve of the teenage and that too intermediate love. The duo are caught in an intimate moment on a media camera and that exposes their love to the world. Swapna is pulled out of the school. How did they convince their parents? What is their thinking and how did they mature? That should be seen on screen.

Technically, it is the director all the way. Srikanth Addala handled story, dialogs, screenplay and direction departments for the film. Story wise, the film resembles many films. Well! It is a teenage story and college backdrop. But what makes this better is the narration. Honestly, the film starts weak. There is nothing much in the first half until the interval. Interval closing is pretty good and the second half is a decent one. So, what gets this film a better rating? It is the last 30 mins of the film that elevates the film. It gets emotionally touching. Best part is that all the loose ends with the message left through out the film are connected towards the climax and that presents the message with good impact. Dialogs are pretty good too. So overall, the film starts weak and gets better as the film progresses and the climax will leave an impact on the outgoing audience. The emotional part is nicely underplayed so that it does not get really sentimental (ointment) but is perfectly balanced enough to deliver the message. And then a simple smile that is brought with the slang of the heroine will let the audience leave with a light heart. That is where Srikanth scores. Scores big.

Also, dialogs by Srikanth are very good. There are some good dialogs that seem not justified during the run but feel perfect when the ends are all tied together in the climax.


Mickey J Meyer's music is pretty good. Almost all the songs are good and the background score is touching enough. Editing by Marthand Venkatesh is good. Chota K Naidu captured Vizag and Rajamundry locales in an interesting way.

In the cast, Prakashraj is excellent. It is his character that brings in lot of sympathies and elevates the film. As Dhil Raju recently noted in a press meet, it is true that there is no KBL without Prakashraj onscreen. His length is short alright. But the character is mould that it gets sympathy. If the audience cannot connect to that emotional feeling with the character, the film becomes almost below average. And only Prakashraj would be capable of garnering that required element.

Jayasudha is content in her role. But she is very effective with her one dialog that changes the course of the film. Ahuti Prasad is good. Dialogs written for him are good and he delivered it in the perfect way. Brahmanandam, Rao Ramesh and others are content in their roles.

As for the lead pair, Varun Sandesh could have been better. More grace is needed in his dances. In the first song, editing is done crisply to cover it up. Or so it seemed. Also modulation is required in his dialog delivery. Some of the dialogs lack the feel. But his smile is a big asset for him and he could cover most of his expressions in his role as boy next door. He looked much better in Happy Days. Swetha is good in her role. Even though she does not really give a positive impression in the first shot, she gradually grows on with the impression.

Srikanth Addala might not have come up with a new story line but is successful with his presentation of the message that teenagers and parents need better understanding. His screenplay, dialogs and direction deserve a pat on his back. There is not much comedy in the film but a little slang by the heroine and some comedy generated through the warden are good.

Overall, first half of the film is not great but closes with a good interval episode. Second half is good and climax is touching. Overall, this could be rated yet another good one from Dhil Raju.