Babu Bangaram review: This Venkatesh, Nayanthara starrer is a let down

Telugu star Venkatesh, who is popular known as Victory Venkatesh, is back in his action avatar in director Maruthi’s Babu Bangaram. Venkatesh took over a year since his last film to sign on this project, in which he stars with actress Nayathara. This is, in fact, the third film the pair have done together. Babu Bangaram is an action-comedy and the director has ensured there is a lot of family sentiment to appeal to the family audience. Victory Venkatesh plays ACP Krishna (and a cameo as his grandfather) who is good at heart. Maruthi has also attempted to show Krishna’s transformation from a fun-loving compassionate cop in the first half to a tough no-nonsense ACP in the second. [caption id=“attachment_2952248” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  A still from Babu Bangaram with Venkatesh and Nayanthara. Image from Facebook.[/caption] Krishna meets Sailaja (Nayanthara) whose father is being chased by the local MLA and goons. He wants to help and in this process falls for her.  Plenty of light moments are introduced through the film by way of comic scenes, dialogues and a posse of comedians like Prudhvi, Vennela Kishore, Brahmanandam, etc. At the outset of the film, it is clear that the Victory Venkatesh is ageing, as it shows on his face. However, inspite of being in his 50s, he has maintained his physique, which is a plus for this film as he plays a cop. But the director’s attempt to move Venkatesh away from the middle-aged roles he has been playing to a younger action hero in this film falls flat. The characterisation of ACP Krishna is not novel and neither is the story.  Venkatesh has been made to look stylish - especially in the songs - and this makes him look fresh in these portions. And while there are numerous action scenes to show off Krishna’s heroism, they don’t make much of an impact. Nayanthara, who has been having a good run in south films, looks as pretty as ever and performs her role effortlessly. The age difference between the two is evident by it doesn’t mar the experience. Director Maruthi, who has had numerous hits earlier, could have worked on a much more interesting storyline to keep the audience engaged. An age-old story is kept going with comic scenes and action scenes thrown in between. Venkatesh fans will probably cheer at the references to his old films and maybe his action scenes. But for those who are looking for a good film from Maruthi, Babu Bangaram doesn’t offer anything exciting and is a big let-down.