‘Gully Rowdy’ movie review: Rowdyism and silly laughs

Director Nageswara Reddy, in a departure from his earlier genre of comedy (his last outings were Acharya America Yatra and Tenali Ramakrishna BA.BL), tries his luck with an action film interspersed with comedy.

The introduction is interesting but soon one realises that the director wants to focus more on the rowdy angle in the story. He wants to infuse a rowdy’s story with comic elements.

As a young boy, Vasu (Sundeep Kishan) is shown to be groomed reluctantly as a rowdy by Naidu (Posani), Man Friday of his grandpa (Nagineedu), for his family prestige and to seek revenge on a rowdy Bairagi. Sundeep Kishan can balance neither roles of a rowdy nor as an ordinary youth who has fallen for Neha Shetty. His rowdyism comes in handy only to rescue the heroine and her family.

Sundeep Kishan is lost among an ensemble cast. The film is loud and the effort to generate laughs is pathetic. Rajendra Prasad is over the top and there is little he can do with his stereotyped mannerisms. He plays Venkat Rao, a cop whose land is grabbed by the villain. His daughter seeks Vasu’s help and in the process, the villain is killed. Now his son is angry and the top cop Raghu Naik (Bobby Simha) is collecting evidence, fully aware that Venkat Rao’s family is involved in the mess. A crucial reveal in the final scenes ends up being absurd.

It is sad that being produced by Kona Venkat doesn’t help the film. There’s nothing noteworthy, neither the performances of the lead pair — Neha and Sundeep are just adequate and Vennela Kishore’s comedy falls flat — nor the music and cinematography.

The film is ostensibly an effort to combine an action entertainer with a rom-com, but nothing works.