Radhe Shyam (2022) :
Movie Review -
One might say, Prabhas coming after legendary Bahubali makes everything look tiny, but that's not the case here. It wasn't the same with "Saaho" (2019) either, but his profile was kept high there. His larger-than-life image saved Saaho somehow, but here, in Radhe Shyam, the genre spoils it for him. Radhe Shyam doesn't belong to any single genre, such as action, drama, romance, adventure, supernatural, fantasy, thriller, or any other genre, but it's an unintelligent mishmash of all of them. Was it written in Prabhas's destiny that he would have back-to-back underwhelming films after back-to-back visual phenomenons? I think the answer is yes, and maybe he'll go back to the club with "Adipurush" (well, let's wait for that). Prabhas, with that handsome face, deserves an out-and-out romantic film, but definitely not a messy one like Radhe Shyam. It could have been much better with gorgeous faces like Pooja Hegde and Darling Superstar.
Radhe Shyam tells a story of a highly respected and celebrated palmist, Vikramaditya (Prabhas), who has 100% faith in palmastry. His Guru Paramhans (Sathyaraj) tries to convince him to reduce that 1%, but Aditya refuses. Aditya, who believes that he doesn't have love and marriage in his destiny, falls in love with Prerna (Pooja Hegde) and then things start turning around their destinies beyond medical and palmistry science. The film has a predictable storyline and also feels unnecessarily loud and slow on many occasions. The screenplay looks interesting once in a while, but loses interest due to poor writing.
Although Prabhas and Pooja Hegde's chemistry is beautiful, performance-wise, I think they could have put up a better show. Prabhas loses his newly built temperament over his "improved Hindi dialect" in some loud one-liners, but the rest of the time, he's pretty decent. His swag, looks, and attitude are kept intact for his fans, even though it doesn't suit the character. However, you can forgive it for its cinematic liberty. I mean, who wouldn't fall in love with such a good-looking fella? Even if he's a palmist and a playboy. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that Pooja Hegde has got the most glamorous role of her career (so far) with Radhe Shyam. She's a doctor, which means she's educated and smart, but at the same time, she has some crazy ideas about love and flirtation. The first frame of her: those eyes, smooth hair covering half of her face, and then her glowing face. Her male fans can drop dead right there. It's the writing of her character and scenes that takes away a lot. Bhagyashree, Sachin Khedekar, Riddhi Kumar, Priyasarshi, Jagapathi Babu, and Jayaram have small but important roles, and they all pass their time comfortably.
The visual grandeur of Radhe Shyam is definitely made for the big-screen experience. Every single set and frame (with VFX) is visually splendid. From nature's beauty to greenery, clouds, palaces, hospitals, railway stations, and that high-octane ship sequence in the climax, everything is shot beautifully. Those melodious songs by Mithoon and Mnan Bhardwaj are just fabulous. 'Aashiqui Aa Gayi' stays with you, 'Udja Parindey' is vibrant, and 'Jaan Hai Meri' is eye-catching. While most of the dialogues fade away right after the moment, some of them are really good and can be memorised for a long time. "Jinke haath nahi hote unki kismat nahi hoti kya," That was brilliant!
Director Radha Krishna Kumar's love saga is unconvincing from the start because of his scattered storytelling. The first scene of Sathyaraj: As he explains the difference between science and astrology, you notice a loud background score. Was that mandatory? It was more of a messy mass than a classy, hard-hitting dialogue. He repeats the same mistakes again in this weakly written script, and the final outcome loses all the impact created by Prabhas and Pooja Hegde's intimate chemistry. As a whole, Radhe Shyam lacks too many things, but most importantly, it misfires with the main logic behind the story, and that hurts more than anything else. It's strictly watchable for die-hard fans of Prabhas and Pooja Hegde, while others can only enjoy the visuals and music.
RATING - 4/10*
One might say, Prabhas coming after legendary Bahubali makes everything look tiny, but that's not the case here. It wasn't the same with "Saaho" (2019) either, but his profile was kept high there. His larger-than-life image saved Saaho somehow, but here, in Radhe Shyam, the genre spoils it for him. Radhe Shyam doesn't belong to any single genre, such as action, drama, romance, adventure, supernatural, fantasy, thriller, or any other genre, but it's an unintelligent mishmash of all of them. Was it written in Prabhas's destiny that he would have back-to-back underwhelming films after back-to-back visual phenomenons? I think the answer is yes, and maybe he'll go back to the club with "Adipurush" (well, let's wait for that). Prabhas, with that handsome face, deserves an out-and-out romantic film, but definitely not a messy one like Radhe Shyam. It could have been much better with gorgeous faces like Pooja Hegde and Darling Superstar.
Radhe Shyam tells a story of a highly respected and celebrated palmist, Vikramaditya (Prabhas), who has 100% faith in palmastry. His Guru Paramhans (Sathyaraj) tries to convince him to reduce that 1%, but Aditya refuses. Aditya, who believes that he doesn't have love and marriage in his destiny, falls in love with Prerna (Pooja Hegde) and then things start turning around their destinies beyond medical and palmistry science. The film has a predictable storyline and also feels unnecessarily loud and slow on many occasions. The screenplay looks interesting once in a while, but loses interest due to poor writing.
Although Prabhas and Pooja Hegde's chemistry is beautiful, performance-wise, I think they could have put up a better show. Prabhas loses his newly built temperament over his "improved Hindi dialect" in some loud one-liners, but the rest of the time, he's pretty decent. His swag, looks, and attitude are kept intact for his fans, even though it doesn't suit the character. However, you can forgive it for its cinematic liberty. I mean, who wouldn't fall in love with such a good-looking fella? Even if he's a palmist and a playboy. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that Pooja Hegde has got the most glamorous role of her career (so far) with Radhe Shyam. She's a doctor, which means she's educated and smart, but at the same time, she has some crazy ideas about love and flirtation. The first frame of her: those eyes, smooth hair covering half of her face, and then her glowing face. Her male fans can drop dead right there. It's the writing of her character and scenes that takes away a lot. Bhagyashree, Sachin Khedekar, Riddhi Kumar, Priyasarshi, Jagapathi Babu, and Jayaram have small but important roles, and they all pass their time comfortably.
The visual grandeur of Radhe Shyam is definitely made for the big-screen experience. Every single set and frame (with VFX) is visually splendid. From nature's beauty to greenery, clouds, palaces, hospitals, railway stations, and that high-octane ship sequence in the climax, everything is shot beautifully. Those melodious songs by Mithoon and Mnan Bhardwaj are just fabulous. 'Aashiqui Aa Gayi' stays with you, 'Udja Parindey' is vibrant, and 'Jaan Hai Meri' is eye-catching. While most of the dialogues fade away right after the moment, some of them are really good and can be memorised for a long time. "Jinke haath nahi hote unki kismat nahi hoti kya," That was brilliant!
Director Radha Krishna Kumar's love saga is unconvincing from the start because of his scattered storytelling. The first scene of Sathyaraj: As he explains the difference between science and astrology, you notice a loud background score. Was that mandatory? It was more of a messy mass than a classy, hard-hitting dialogue. He repeats the same mistakes again in this weakly written script, and the final outcome loses all the impact created by Prabhas and Pooja Hegde's intimate chemistry. As a whole, Radhe Shyam lacks too many things, but most importantly, it misfires with the main logic behind the story, and that hurts more than anything else. It's strictly watchable for die-hard fans of Prabhas and Pooja Hegde, while others can only enjoy the visuals and music.
RATING - 4/10*
