Director Gunasekhar's magnum opus "Rudramadevi" (also spelt as Rudhramadevi/Rudrama Devi) has received mixed reviews and decent ratings from film critics.
Written by Gunasekhar, "Rudramadevi" is a period movie set in the ancient Kakatiya dynasty. Ganapati Devudu (Krishnam Raju) is the ruler of Kakatiya. His wife delivers a baby girl Rudrama Devi (Anushka Shetty), when he is worried over his enemies attacking him and knowing that he has no male successor.
His minister Shiva Devaiah (Prakash Raj) keeps the baby's gender identity under wraps and introduces Rudrama Devi as prince Rudra Devudu to his empire. Rudrama grows up like a warrior and the twist in the tale arises when Shiva Devaiah is forced to reveal her identity. What happens next forms the crux of the film.
Critics are happy with Gunasekhar's extensive research on the life of Rudrama Devi, but his screenplay has disappointed them big time. They say the first half of the film is engaging, but later, the movie turns tedious due to some scenes. They are impressed with the lead actors' performance and brilliant production values of the movie.
"Rudramadevi", on an average, has been rated 2.92 out of 5. Here we bring you critics' verdict and ratings for the movie. Continue to read "Rudramadevi" movie review roundup:
There are several shortcomings, but Gunasekhar piques the interest to go back and read up more about this warrior queen.
A few things such as the usage of cartoon animation to save time is impressive and fruitful. The scenes which depict the self-realisation of the teen Rudhramadevi have been handled brilliantly, but the quality descends as the story progresses.
The scale and rich historical importance is major plus point of director Gunasekhar's laborious movie but the narration is quite ineffective. Despite Allu Arjun's stellar show and Anushka's hard work, Rudramadevi makes the movie a tedious watch post interval. But we should appreciate Gunasekhar for taking such effort to present us our rich Telugu history on to the screen.
It is not Anushka's film all the way. There is an unexpected dose of Allu Arjun's quirkiness here. Some cliched elements like Anushka's fiery dance in the climax could have been avoided. Fairly good writing otherwise.
Rudrama Devi is a decent attempt from Gunasekhar. Heavy duty star cast, rich visuals and Allu Arjun's stunning character elevate the film to a decent level. But a dragged out narration and slow pace of the film makes things tedious during the second half. The film is bound to get some huge openings because of the buzz it is carrying. Finally, if you keep all your expectations in check and go with the flow of the film, you can easily give this film a shot for its lavish film making and historical lineage.
Rudhramadevi is a monolithic and epic movie with spectacular visual effects and beautiful scenery. I liked how they presented Rudhramadevi's character and her struggle to be a powerful man in spite of heavy pressures. It's a realistic looking period war film thats a complete crowd pleaser. Breathtaking in scope and action and surprisingly precise characterizations despite whatever ethnically dubious casting choices. Gunaa's expertise in the machinery of the genre reaches its pinnacle. The Rudhramadevi - Gonna Ganna Reddy final scene is stroke of genius. On the whole, Rudhramadevi is another epic from master Guaa, very enjoyable.
Rudhrama Devi can still be watched once despite all the flaws because of the story and the insights it gives about the characters of the great Telugu kingdom. Guna Sekhar should have come up with a far more engrossing product as he repeatedly said that it was his dream to make a movie on the warrior queen. Don't expect wonders or an everlasting cinematic experience with this film.
Appreciation to Gunasekhar goes for the fact that through the movie he tries to bring rich history of Telugu land on to the screen. Other than this fact, the movie has more demerits than the merits. The movie is only for people who want to know how Rudrama Devi ruled in the guise of a male.
