Cast: Manchu Manoj, Pragya Jaiswal, Rajendra Prasad, Sampath Raj etc.
Direction: Satya
Banner: Claps & Whistles Entertainments
Music: DJ Vasanth
Cinematography: Siddharth Ramaswamy
Release Date: Mar 3, 2017
 

Manchu Manoj is in desperate need of a hit has teamed up with director SK Satya, protégée of Puri Jagannadh, for a commercial entertainer film. Let’s see whether Gunturodu will provide much needed break for Manoj or not…

Story:
Kanna (Manchu Manoj) is a happy go lucky guy brings headaches to his father (Rajendra Prasad) with his arrogance towards ‘bad people’. He falls in love with a beautiful girl Amrutha (Pragya Jaiswal). In an incident, Kanna unintentionally beats Amrutha’s brother Seshu (Sampath Raj), a criminal lawyer aspiring to become a MLA with assistance of sitting MLA (Kota Srinivasa Rao).

Over a period of time, Amrutha accepts Kanna’s love. Meanwhile, Seshu finds Kanna’s identity and is waiting for right time to eliminate him. How Kanna takes on Sampath and what happens to Kanna and Amrutha’s love is crux of the story…

Positives:
1. Cinematography
2. Action Episodes
3. Music

Negatives:
1. Formulaic Story
2. Extended Climax
3. Romantic Track

Analysis:

Debutante director Satya opted to a formulaic script. He took good care on designing each and every character in the film. Manchu Manoj is shown as a guy with arrogant nature. On the other hand, Sampath Raj, a local biggie and a criminal lawyer is shown as an egoistic fellow who crosses all limits to punish those who hurt his ego. What happens when the arrogant Manoj man handles Sampath Raj publicly? Incidentally, the girl Manoj loves is sister of Sampath. Narration is good until characters are introduced. However, there’s no other strong element to drive the film in second half. So, the later part is like cat-rat fight between Manoj and Sampath. Manoj and Pragya’s romantic track was not so impressive. Father-son bonding between Manoj and Rajendra Prasad was touching. The sequence of Rajendra Prasad requesting Sampath to save his son Manoj from a criminal case was emotive. After an intensive action sequence, when audiences prepare to go out as predicting it as a climax, director extended story to end the movie in lighter vein.

Artists Performances:
Manchu Manoj looked heavy with bulk figure. He was seen in never before action avatar. In fact, Manoj essayed the role with perfection. He apparently worked hard on fights. Manoj was too good in ‘heroism elevation’ episodes. Pragya Jaiswal was gorgeous in the role of Amrutha. She appeared equally beautiful in trendy and traditional outfits. Pragya oozed glamor in songs is a treat for masses. Rajendra Prasad is big asset as Manoj’s father. He showed his experience in key sequences. Sampath Raj was apt for the role of an egoistic lawyer. Kota Srinivasa Rao was good in a supporting role. Praveen and Satya provide laughs. Prithvi was okay. Other artists played their roles accordingly.

Technical Aspect:
Satya is a protégée of mass director Puri Jagannadh. Thus, he knows how to tackle action episodes which are best part in Gunturodu. The way he handled action sequences were a feast for mass audiences. All three action scenes- hero introduction, pre-interval and pre-climax were massive. The film’s story was not unique. But, with perfect character writing and portrayal he made it look fresh. Dilaogues were good at parts. Music by DJ Vasanth was enchanting. Though BGM is copied, he rendered aptly. Cinematography by Siddharth Ramaswamy needs special mention. Karthik Srinivas’s editing work was mediocre. Production values are good.

Verdict:
Gunturodu has potential to lure mass audiences. However, the film’s fate depends on how other sections of audiences receive it.

TeluguOne Perspective:
Ghatunnodu

Rating: 2.0