It takes guts to make a movie based on Yamalokam, especially when everyone of us is familiar with such themes. First it was the Senior NTR, who essayed a phenomenal performance as the odd man out in Yamalokam, in Yamagola, so much so, that it has gone on to become a milestone in Telugu cinema. Later S V KRishna Reddy managed to recreate the magic with Ali in Yamaleela. Of course, it turned out to be a xeroxed version of the original with the mother sentiment thrown in. In between, Chiranjeevi too did his own version of the theme which became a runaway success. And now director S S Rajamouli treads the beaten track with Junior NTR as the man who has Yama Dharmaraju in a fix. And, we must say, it was a good effort on the part of Rajamouli to dish out an out-and-out entertainer.
Like all themes go, there is not much to talk about the theme. Death plays the villain in the life of Raja, who is unable to cash in on his big theft, as the guy who gets the job done is dead before he can pay NTR his reward. So, he starts cursing Yama Dharmaraja, who decides to right the wrongs.
And so goes the movie. An entertainer, it has some phenomenal dialogues between Mohan Babu and Junior NTR. The film has some wonderful graphic wonders which bring about the two NTRs -- the junior and senior -- in one sequence. It is an amazing effort, and the film will be talked about more for this than for anything else.
Then there are the ladies -- the more the merrier seems to be Rajamouli's policy -- to add that glam quotient to the film.
But we must say that it is a pure entertainer, and Rajamouli doesn't seem to have enough time to devote to the story and the screenplay. He only seems to concentrate on the Yamalokam scenes to the neglect of the theme. Anyway, if you can leave your mind back at home, which you should always do when you go to watch a Telugu film, it will entertain. If not, perish the thought of watching the film.
