London Babulu – Movie Review

‘London Babulu’, starring debutante Rakshit, ‘Colours’ Swathi, Dhanraj and Sathya in main roles, has been released.  Let’s see what works and what doesn’t.  

Story:

Gandhi (debutante Rakshit) has London dreams not because he is greedy but because he is in a dire situation.  His brother-in-law (Raja Ravindra), to whom the hero owes a large sum of money, has given him an ultimatum and in order to keep his sister’s family intact, Gandhi pulls out all the stops to get a passport in company with his friend (comedian Sathya).  

Kumar (played by Jeeva), a broker, helps him in getting a passport as a married man.  (Married men apparently stand greater chances of getting the British visa, we are told).  

Gandhi’s real troubles begin when he mentions Suryakantham as the name of his wife in the passport while the truth is that he is not even married.  

But when he has to remove the wife’s name, Gandhi has to seek for divorce.  Suryakantham (Swathi), an upright and serious-minded TV journalist with the same name, alone can help him.  Together with an ex-Naxalite (played by Dhanraj) and an incompetent but funnily proud divorce lawyer (played by Ali), Gandhi works with the girl to get a divorce.  In the process, his life undergoes a change.  

What works:

The film’s Tamil original, ‘Aandavan Kattalai’, has loads of situational comedy and some satire thrown in.  ‘London Babulu’, by and large, is a faithful remake.  Just because it’s meant for the Telugu audience, the soul is not destroyed in the name of nativity.  

In the initial segments, Sathya and Dhanraj elicit laughs.  As Rakshit and his friend try to get a passport and a room in Hyderabad, their travails are narrated in a light-veined fashion.  This prevents the film from seeming dull.

In the second half, lawyer Ali and his assistant, Sathya Krishna, tickle the funny bone in a big way.  Every time Sathya Krishna insults Ali’s intelligence, it’s a treat to watch.  Seen in a lawyer’s dress throughout, Ali plays a refreshing character in rarity.

The courtroom scenes have got both drama and some clean comedy.  The way Suryakantham ends up in a soup is interestingly narrated.  

Even Dhanraj is cast in a semi-serious role.  His search for his wife and son has a sentimental value.  

Dialogues like ‘Bathakadaniki memu vooru vadulukunnam, nuvu noru vadulukunnav’ (Rakshit to Dhanraj) are impressive.  In fact, in a curious case, these two characters have to pretend to be dumb to prevent trouble upon themselves.  

Swathi’s characterization is fresh.  The bubbly actress is hardly seen smiling anywhere.  

K’s music (‘Thirigi thirigi modhatikocche.. Maaraledu jeevitham’ is good) is at its understated best.  The songs are interwoven into the narration.  Sam K Naidu’s cinematography works fairly well.  

What doesn’t:

The theatre background scenes involving Rakshit and Murali Sharma may not work with the average audience.  

While the story is universal, the treatment has a large fragrance of Tamil flavour.  

The passport scenes involving Jeeva could have been done better.  

The climax, involving Ajay Ghosh as an IB officer, needed greater heft to make the right impact.  

While Rakshit delivers a decent performance, his character is uni-dimensional throughout.  

Performance score:

Rakshit is not your regular hero who makes fun of others and teases the heroine.  He is seen to be someone in distress and that’s apt for his role.  Swathi plays an atypical character with ease.  She is at home in the role of a TV journalist who exposes everyone from a womanizing CEO to the much-delayed Metro works.  

Ali and Sathya Krishna are a great asset in the second half.  They come across as real-life boss-employee duo.  Dhanraj, Sathya, Murali Sharma and Ajay Ghosh fit the bill.  

Bottomline:

London Babulu’s situational comedy entertains, although not consistently. A remake of Tamil movie ‘Aandavan Kattalai’ (2016), it makes decent watch. It has familiar setup and dull climax but on the whole it is okay comedy.