Gopala Gopala (2015) telugu movie Review and Rating

Rating: 3.75/5

Genre: Family

Type: Ramake (Oh My God in Hindi)

Banners: Suresh Productions Pvt. Ltd & Northstar Entertainment Pvt. Ltd

Cast: Venkatesh, Pawan Kalyan, Shriya, Mithun Chakraborthy, Diksha Panth, Posani Krishna Murali, Anisha Ambose (cameo), Krishnudu, Vennela Kishore, Pruthvi Raj, Madhu Shalini, Raghu Babu, Rallapalli, Raghunath etc

Cinematography: Jayanan Vincent

Editor: Goutham Raju

Music: Anoop Rubens

Art: Brahma kadali 

Action: Allan Amin

Dialogues: Sai Madhav Burra

Lyrics: Sirivennela Seetharama Sastry, Chandrabose, Ananta Sriram

Story: Bhavesh Mandalia, Umesh Shukla

Story, Screenplay & Direction: Kishore Kumar Pardasani

Producers: D. Suresh Babu & Sharrath Marar

Release date: 10 January, 2015

:Story:

Gopala Rao (Venkatesh) is an atheist who owns a shop that sells Hindu idols in Koti area. His shop is rubbled due to an earthquake. When he claims the insurance, it’s rejected as earthquake is an ‘act of God’. Gopala Rao decides to sue god for the damage he has done. In the process, he involves Godmen and various trusts that MAKE MONEY USING God’s image. It irks a popular baba (Mithun Chakraborthy). Gopala Rao gets physically intimidated once his petition is accepted by the court. Rest of the story is all about how Lord Krishna (Pawan Kalyan) saves and powers Gopala Rao towards victory.

:Artists Performance:

 It’s a sleep walk for Venkatesh to do roles of a struggling middle class man. He brings all his experience to make impact in vital scenes. Pawan Kalyan brings it on with his godly image and subdued yet powerful performance. Pawan Kalyan’s sarane presence and sharp wit has suited the characterization of Lord Krishna. Shriya is alright as wife of Venkatesh. Anisha Ambrose (Gabbar Singh 2 heroine) did a cameo of an interviewer and she is pretty. For Mithun Chakraborthy it’s the same role he has done in Hindi and he excels. Posani Krishna Murali is entertaining as a banana-eating fake baba. Diksha Panth is gorgeous as in the role of matha. Vennela Kishore has played the role of the insurance officer and Madhu Shalini donned the role of a TV journo.

:Technical departments:

Story - screenplay - direction: The basic story of the film is inspired by an Australian film titled ‘The Man Who Sued God’ (2001). An Indian theater play with titled ‘Kishan vs Kanhaiya’ enacted by Paresh Rawal has become popular. It was the success of Kishan vs Kanhaiya that prompted the Hindi blockbuster ‘Oh My God’ (2012) which also sports Paresh Rawal. Director Kishore Kumar Pardasany had a big task on his hands when he roped in Pawan Kalyan to play God. The original has a minimal role for Akshay Kumar who played the God. Kishore has increased the scenes for Pawan Kalyan and made sure that Pawan is presented really well. It’s a true remake for 90% of the movie. The episodes in which Pawan Kalyan hands over Bhagawadgeeta to Venkatesh are well conceived. Also the courtroom scene where validity of Bhagawadgeeta answered is also good. The Pawan Kalyan - Dhanraj single scene is very entertaining. The characterization of Venkatesh is sugar coated unlike raw and realistic characterization of Paresh Rawal in original. The climax of the film is prolonged just like original. The screenplay is sluggish.

 :Other departments:

 Songs scored by Anup Rubens are different from the work he has done earlier. Background music is fine. Cinematography by Jayanan Vincent is good. Dialogues by Sai Madhav Burra are nice. There are nicely written dialogues for Pawan Kalyan which suited his newly-acquired political image like “Samardhulu intlo vundipothe asamardhulu rajyamelutharu and nayukudu ante geliche vaadu kaadhu gelipinche vaadu’. Editing is alright. It’s a brave decision for the producers to remake this film in Telugu and getting two stars to play leads in such a different film is a master stroke.

:Analysis:

 Plus points of the film are rare genre (satire on god and blind believes), Pawan Kalyan and Venkatesh. The weak points are not-so-arresting screenplay and prolonged climax. I have seen the original Oh My God. The original is more authentic. The remade version is more of a sugar-coated one. It’s an okay film for the people who have seen the original. The success (long term run) will depend on how people who haven’t watched the original embrace it. On a whole, Gopala Gopala is a well packaged film in a different genre though I expected a better remake out of Oh My God!