Bangarraju, a perfect Sankranthi family entertainer

The drama unfolds when 'Saoggade Chinni Nayana' ends. After his death Bangarraju (Nagarjuna) reaches heavenly abode.

Film: Bangarraju
Cast: Akkineni Nagarjuna, Naga Chaitanya, Krithi Shetty, Ramya Krishna
Director: Kalyan Krishna

Like all larger-than-life stories of Telugu biggies, ‘Bangarraju’ too has a supernatural twist to it. And like a proper commercial Telugu film that greets audiences during Sankranthi, ‘Bangarraju’ has overall ingredients of family sentiment, romance and comedy to enthrall audiences and lighten up the festive mood with the songs.

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The drama unfolds when ‘Saoggade Chinni Nayana’ ends. After his death Bangarraju (Nagarjuna) reaches heavenly abode. In a very short time, his wife too joins him to dance with him in eternal bliss.

However, they carry with themselves the bondings, emotions that they shared with their family down on earth which keep them haunted often. His wife tells him how things have changed after he passed away and tells him how their grandson Chinna Bangarraju (played by Naga Chaitanya), has turned into an irresponsbile man with no proper career.

Knowing Chinna Bangarraju has tainted the family’s legacy by indulging in casual relations with with women in the village, Bangarraju feels he has to keep things in order on earth. Thus, he returns to earth from heaven. How does Bangarraju’s spirit enter into the Chinni Bangarraju (Naga Chaitanya)? How he brings about a change and unites Chinni Bangarraju with Krithi Shetty is the crux of the story.

The village atmosphere in the movie comes alive with its myriad hues. Since it’s a sequel to the earlier film ‘Soggade Chinni Nayana’, the story of Bangarraju too is weaved on the similar plot of how the family gets entangled in temple heist.

While Bangarraju was portrayed as a spirit in the prequel, this time, his wife too gets into the part of playing the spirit thus giving a fantasy supernatural touch to the story.

Krithi Shetty, who plays the village sarpanch, has come with another meaty performance. Although most sequences are in a predictable format, the story is likely to entertain masses with the story’s native flavour.

The key takeaways from ‘Bangarraju’ are the performances of the father-son duo. The character Bangarraju’s efforts to bring his grandson on track elevates the performance of Nagarjuna. Sampath Raj, Rao Ramesh, Vennela Kishore, Brahmaji, Jhansi have done their bit to make the story. Anup Rubens songs are another highlight.