Bunny (2005)

No one does it like Bunny (both the character and Stylish Star Allu Arjun), and that's a fact. He is such a joy to watch on screen, and his screen presence is so magnetic (in the most Tollywood-way possible), that you can be assured of a good time always. (No, we do not acknowledge S/O Satyamurthy on this blog). 

Bunny is a template Telugu revenge saga- a son out to avenge his father's murder; and also a template #BaavaPropaganda film, where the alludu gets what he wants. It gets its massy elements right, and I was immersed in the peculiarities of the world that the film sought to create. Prakash Raj was in top form as both the fatherTM and the villianTM- easily one of my favourite performances of his. He truly is bae. M.S. Narayana was just too funny as the Principal (and his father) and I kind of regretted the small part written for him. I don't care, they somehow should have inserted some scenes in the second half as well. Raghu Babu's comedy kind of makes up for his absence though- I had to pause in certain places because I was laughing too hard. I felt bad for laughing at the blinding (don't even ask) but since he had already done it first to Tarun, I guess it was alright? Equilibrium and all that, ya know. Okay fine, it was questionable comedy, and I feel bad for laughing. Is that what you wanted to hear, huh?! Happy?!

Now, coming to the women of the movie- Mahalakshmi, Bunny's love interest, is pretty much every mass hero love interest heroine ever. She was decent enough, but in all her scenes, it was either Prakash Raj or Allu Arjun stealing the limelight, and that's about that. As for Sudha- what a gem of a performer she is. I can never get tired of watching her be the wholesome mother over and over again, it's something that she does to perfection without making it repetitive. I also really liked Seetha as Mahalakshmi's mother. She was quite fierce when she had to be, and overshadowed everyone else. 

However, the movie's Polavaram dam propaganda (I was alerted to it by my good friend L) was jarring to see in the year 2021, after having read multiple reports by environmentalists and tribal rights activists condemning its construction. It dampened my feelings for the rest of the movie, and made me VVV frustrated (as always) by how the elites literally have every single tool in their hands to not just get what they want, but to also convince others that what they want is the most righteous thing. 

In conclusion, VV Vinayak never fails to amuse with his 2000s mass movies. I only wish he lite teesko'd a bit (a lot, actually) on the propaganda. Actually, that's putting it mildly. I wish he had just focused on the Chiru simping (politically) and ignored the Polavaram project because it is one of the most destructive things to ever come into existence. Entire villages are going to be wiped away, people are going to lose their livelihoods, self-respect and their ancient connections to the land. It is also an environment disaster as a quick Google search (or common sense) will tell you, and has been politically manipulated to appear as the harbinger of development and all good things in the world. I am suddenly very angry now, and lowkey want to research on how mass movies influence politics. BRB.